Misaki's Alien
by Sushibear144
Summary: Somehow, the impossible happened and Takumi's secret identity as a space alien has been discovered! How exactly would Misaki and Takumi's relationship have been different if Takumi really was a perverted space alien from the planet Phermone? HEA and the classic pairing.
1. Chapter 1 (07-17 12:30:36)

**I'm in a silly mood so I started this tongue and cheek piece. Probably won't take it far but at least it is keeping me from torturing the tinny tiny little group of readers of my other story with odd little insignificant edits. Besides, this is basically anonymous right?**

"Hey! Blondie," Misaki had found him. It wasn't hard, she just needed to follow the giggle of girls and figurative flowers that trailed behind him like breadcrumbs on a path. "My office… now."

They stepped into the classroom dedicated to the student body council. The President of the Student Council sounded angry. No one had ever been angry at Takumi Usui before. At least not long enough to express it. They might open their mouths to scold him but before the words could take shape in their minds, his dazzling green eyes, chiseled chin, and perfect smile would make them forget everything they'd had known, including how to remain standing. It wasn't just women either, in fact it wasn't just humans. Dogs, birds, spiders would all go weak in the knees when he passed. The City had been looking into placing a restraint order on the boy. Not because he had done anything wrong, but because the hospitals and vet offices had found themselves overwhelmed by the number of fainting victims when ever he ventured outside. Of course, every officer that had tried to serve him had immediately turned to mush before being capable of handing over the restraining orders, so Takumi continued to attend school and continued to remain a royal pain to one Misaki Ayuzawa – Seika High, Student Body President.

Once the door was closed, she looked him in the eye. "I don't know what kind of perverted space alien you are but you had better figure out how to stop breaking the hearts of every girl you meet around here. I have far too much work to keep consoling all of the girls you charm!" Misaki meant business and Takumi was afraid.

He stumbled out of the room before the impact of her words hit him. He rushed to the bathroom and stared into the mirror. "Space alien". How had she known? He pulled out his phone and Googled "human male photos". Flipping through the catalogue of photos he thought he had done a pretty good job. He looked at his hands and counted. Yep. 10 fingers. He knew that was right. Was it because he went with green eyes? Only two percent of humans had green eyes, but was that really what gave him away? Hadn't some actress chosen violet eyes and gotten away with it? Heck, The Prince of Pop, Mike Johnson, wasn't even suspected and he was missing a whole nose! Yet, here he was, found out after only a year. He'd need to follow that Misaki to see if she would reveal his secrete.

Following anyone was no easy feat for Takumi. Of course he was perfectly coordinated, agile and stealthy but with the crowds constantly pointing at him and girls falling over, it was tough to be inconspicuous. Maybe he could wear a burka to follow her around. No no. That wouldn't do. That would be culturally insensitive. Hummm…. A Ninja outfit would do the trick. He was in Japan. Dressed as a ninja, he wouldn't stand out at all! Or so he thought. After the 10th tourist had stopped and asked to take a photo with him, Takumi realized his disguise wasn't as effective as he had hoped. He would just need to turn to his old stand by. Good thing he had gobs and gobs and gobs of money. (Did he mention he was rich?)

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Oh yes, hello," he said after a moment, "I would like to hire you to clear every street I walk down." There was a pause. "Oh no. You need to clear them before my arrival… at least a quarter of a mile in front of me." Another pause. "Hummm…. That is tricky. Why don't you just anticipate where I will be heading and if in doubt clear the roads in all directions?" A silence, followed by, "Well yes, I suppose you can allow an occassional love rival to appear if it will enable me to demonstrate my God like physical prowess, but do keep it to a minimum." A smile fell over his face, "yes yes. Thank you so much. Goodbye."

Takumi was ready to begin his new role as stalker.


	2. Shot 2

**I got a review :-). It said it was too short, so just for you WhiteAngel83...**

Takumi entered the maid cafe. The President had arrived here 30 minutes ago and hadn't come out yet. He needed to investigate. As he entered the establishment, he was greeted by a pretty young lady around his age. "Bonjour!" She said with a small bow. Ahhhh... this was a French eaterie. "Bonjour Mademoiselle," he responded. Then, in perfect French, he proceeded to ask the lady if she had seen Misaki as she had arrived here 30 minutes prior but he was unable to see her.

Blink. Blink. Crickets could be heard echoing in the background. "I don't actually know French," the poor girl eventually stammered. "We just say 'bonjour' when customers show up because of the French maid costumes... I mean our uniforms."

Takumi blushed a little, "oh, I see. Sorry."

The girl couldn't take her eyes off this vision before her. She nearly blurt out a marriage proposal, but instead decided to first dazzle him with her wit and charm. "You see, rather than French, I decided to focus my linguistic skills on perfecting my Finnish, Swahili, Mandarin, Arabic, Navajo, and Gaelic." She smiled to herself, thinking her scarcasim comeback was quite clever.

"Oh!" Takumi smiled brightly. (The girl felt her knees start to go weak.) He proceeded to recite Shakespeare while switching between all six languages. He had heard, after all, that demonstrating a commonality was a sure fire way to make a good impression. He managed to demonstrate in about two minutes that his mastery of each of the aforementioned languages was as natural, effortless, and fluid as if he had invented the languages himself. The girl was now done for. "You're perfect," she uttered as she fell to the floor.

The manager rushed over to show Takumi to a table.

Perfect. Yes, that was what he had been told. He'd hired a marketing firm to run focus groups on him before starting high school. They had polled groups of people who had watched him answer interview questions and perform tasks as they sat comfortably behind one way glass. He had wanted to make sure that he had properly had this human thing down before starting school. He thought getting some outside opinions would help. Perfect. That is what they all said when asked their impressions of him. Yep. He'd nailed it. His human self was flawless. So how had she figured this out?

He decided to verify something before looking through the menu. It would be bugging him otherwise. Maybe, just maybe, there was some second meaning to the word "perfect" that he was unfamiliar with. He reached into his backpack and pulled out his dictionary because, well you know, every teenager should be fully prepared with every possible item they might need during the day and one never knew if one's phone might sustain water damage. Hummm... that was odd. The word perfect meant complete or as good as possible. If he was perfect than how had she figured it out?

"Oh. It's you,". Misaki said drily and looked annoyed. "May I take your order?"

"Sorry," he said looking up, "I haven't yet looked over the menu. I was distracted with my literature."

"You're reading the Dictionary?" She blurted out. Unbelievable! He was probably prepping for the annual Seika spelling bee. That was her thing! She had won every year and now he shows up trying to rob her of her prize and... and... and , she huffed internally, and then he decides to show up at her job to study in front of her. It was like a big loud, "I get to study but you have no time too" taunt! "Stupid alien," she mumbled under her breath. Oh God. Had she just said that out loud. Quick quick... a cover up. "I meant, I can come back in a few minutes and take your order." She smiled and scampered away.

It was quiet but he'd heard it. She said it again. On her way back to the kitchen, Misaki was stopped by the lady that had greeted him at the door. They were whispering and he suspected they were talking about him. He strained to hear what they were saying. He was pretty sure Misaki had said, "hummmfff, a little too perfect if you ask me."

A light bulb went off. Could that be the problem? Was that a thing? Too perfect? Let's see... his mind scanned through all the people he'd met.

Flawed.

Flawed.

Yep... that one too... flawed.

It was true. None were perfect. He had noticed this once before but sort of assumed it was because he was going to Seika High. It wasn't the best school so he figured they must send the misfits to that school. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe all humans just intentionally avoided perfection. It would explain the whole removal of the nose thing Mike had done.

Takumi could fix this. Yes... tomorrow, President would be shocked at how just how unperfect he could be! He smiled to himself satisfied.


	3. Shot 3

**I got another review. Heeee heeeee heeee! That's a whole 3! I might need a second hand to count them someday (oh come on. a girl can dream). So MissKireiUchiha said something crypt like she'd wait for an update. To read or to burn? I'm so confused. I'm going to say that was an invitation to keep going as opposed to a strange veiled threat.**

 **So to all those that read this and wish I'd stop frivolously wasting digital storage on this nonsense – I'm sorry. Honest, I'll stop soon.**

The President of the Student Council stormed down the halls of Seika High searching her domain for any and every infraction. The students unfortunate enough to find themselves on her war path were slipping into classrooms, contorting themselves into balls while climbing into lockers, and flinging themselves through open windows. No soul seemed brave enough to come face to face with the Demon herself. Save one. Takumi Usui. The boy who apparently hadn't gotten the memo warning that an encounter with Misaki Ayuzawa would make an encounter with the Devil look like a day at… McRonalds.

Takumi actively looked for the President, finally locating her in front of the cafeteria. "Hey!" He shouted to grab her attention. She spun around narrowing in on her…. Oh…it was just him. She sighed a long annoyed sigh. Why was this guy showing up all over her life? Hasn't she seen him like 200 words ago?

"What?" She asked in a low, monotone voice.

Oh he was sooo proud of himself now. Perfect? She thought he was perfect. Ha! He would show her just how very very wrong she was. He'd come up with not one, but two -yes count them- TWO ways to show her he was just as much a failure as every other person in this school. "Watch this," he said with a look of satisfaction. He pulled a small black comb from his back pocket and carefully brushed his thick blonde hair into a perfectly sculptured coif. He looked at her expectantly.

She yawned. Why her? How had she ended up being responsible for watching this moron. She turned to continue her patrols.

"No! You must wait." He insisted.

She turned back around. A section of his hair fell onto his face. He smiled triumphed. His grin grew in its intensity as his hair style continued to fall apart until all that was left was a messy mop of blonde. "See!" he declared.

She didn't look impressed. "Want me to do it again?" He asked.

"I'm sorry. Are you asking me if I want to see you comb your hair again?"

"What would be the point in doing that?" He asked smiling like he had just turned water into wine, "it would just immediately become... messy again!"

It looked like she wasn't getting it. He was going to have to pull out the big guns.

The people in the cafeteria had taken notice that someone was actually talking … no…. INTENTIONALLY talking to their Demon President. They knew that, while she was distracted, it was their chance to escape, but it was hard to walk away from this amazing show of bravery. Slowly and quietly they started gathering around the scene watching with intense interest. If they were quiet, maybe she wouldn't notice them.

"Okay," he said as he swept the hair away from his forehead, "what do you have to say about this?"

Everything in Misaki told her to walk away but Weirdo here was part of the student council as well and it was her job to help the students. Maybe he was injured. A big old bump on his head might explain why this guy was acting so strange. She took a look at his forehead.

Nothing.

Her face was a blank. "You can't be telling me you don't see this puss filled habitat for bacteria!" He pointed to the spot. She squinted and leaned in for a better look. Still nothing. "Right here," he demanded, "This enormous albatross protruding from my head!?"

"Do you mean that little pimple?" She asked. She looked around. Was she on some sort of hidden camera show? Apparently not. Okay. She gave up. She'd just ask. "What exactly are you doing? Why would I care if you have a pimple?"

"I am showing you that I am not perfect!" He said indignant that the meaning of his display wasn't self evident.

"Oh buddy," she said shaking her head, "you don't have to tell me."

By this time, the number of students watching the scene had grown to over 50.

"But I do," he continued. "I heard you whispering to your friend yesterday after school that my flawlessness was unparalleled. It sounded as if my perfection had caused you some uneasiness."

The crowd stifled giggles and shock.

Misaki turned bright red. "No…" she stammered, "no. I never said that!"

"Yes you did at the…." She cut him off. He was about to reveal her secrete. "Wait!" She said to prevent him saying anything further. He couldn't mention the cafe. She replayed the event of yesterday over and over. Had he overheard her tell Erika that he was "too perfect?"

"Too perfect!" She responded. I said "too perfect!" She was still beet red. She wasn't sure all these onlookers understood. It wasn't a compliment. Ugh…. But she couldn't risk discussing this here. He might blow her secrete.

"Yes," Tukami responded. "I know. That is why I'm now demonstrating that I actually do have a flaw. Two in fact."

"Oh," she said with venom in her voice, "you got a lot more than two flaws buddy. Okay everyone! Get to class!"


	4. Four

**Okay MinnieMiss123 ask and you shall receive. Yes he's a real alien in this story. He thinks Misaki knows this but she just thinks he's weird.**

Misaki didn't have to work today. Business was generally a bit slow on Thursdays so they had given her the day off with promises of an extra shift over the weekend. She was glad. She could use this time to study for the spelling bee. She was going to annihilate Takumi! She stopped by her locker, changed out her shoes and was just about out the door when, speak of the devil, who should appear but the alien himself. After the stunt he pulled today she was hard pressed to consider letting him walk her home, but he knew her little secrete and she did want to lay down the law for him so, if she was forced to talk to this guy, it might as well be on the way back to her house.

When they arrived at the Ayuzawa residence her mother and sister both immediately saw that a young man was walking beside her. They looked at each other and they each knew they were sharing the exact same thought.

Last night Misaki had "cooked" dinner for them. They'd both been distracted and it had happened so fast they were unable to stop it. To be polite they had both eaten tablespoon sized servings of each dish, but sadly Misaki's frugal ways had meant that they would need to endure her meal in the form of leftovers. Knowing that tonight they would again face the dreaded torture, which was Misaki's cooking, Suzuna had packed herself and he Mother extra large lunches. They could get away with tiny portions again tonight but it would probably drag out this cycle for yet another day.

"Mizaki," her mother said sweetly, "why don't you invite your friend in for dinner."

"No mother," she said, "he's not really my friend and I am sure he's busy."

"I'm not busy," Takumi stated.

"You'll never make new friends if you aren't polite." Suzuna added. She beckoned the boy in before he could discover it was a trap. "We're eating dinner Mizaki made." Suzuna told their guest as she dragging him to the dinning room. "Her cooking is… out of this world." She added. Yes. That was one way to describe it. Food that is both burnt and frozen simultaneously would be easier to achieve for most people if they were cooking in outer space.

"Yes," Mrs. Ayuzawa added, "she does have a very unique style."

Misaki blushed. She wasn't used to getting so many compliments on her cooking, "I can help make dinners more often." She offered.

"NO!" They both replied in unison.

"You already work too hard," Suzuna said. She had gotten used to picking up that ball fast.

Takumi couldn't wait. This was his first home cooked meal in ages. His mother always had said the way to a boy's heart was through his three stomachs. If this food was a great as they said, he might just be in a bit of trouble.

He didn't consider himself much of a cook. His stuff all tasted like the stuff you buy at restaurants. He missed the flavors his mother would make him. She made the kind of food that, at first, would make your mouth feel like it was on fire but once you finished it, the after taste was as if someone had dumped the contents of the salt shaker onto your tongue. Yes. She was a fine chef. And she was self taught.

Once dinner was served, Takumi thought he'd died and gone to heaven. The food was amazing.

Yes, she had lived up to the praise. Mrs. Ayuzawa and Suzuna had stared in shock how much he ate and his ability to pretend to be enjoying it. He obviously must be very much in love and have incredible acting skills.

"You know dear," Mrs. Ayuzawa said thoughtfully, "next time you'd like to cook maybe we can have your friend back."

The smile on Takumi's face was unmistakably genuine.


	5. Five

The next morning, Takumi showed up on Misaki's door step ready to walk her to school. He was about to knock when the door opened up and Misaki started to walk outside. She was looking over her shoulder yelling goodbye to her mother and sister so she failed to notice the boy standing directly in front of her. She walked straight into him, looked up, saw who it was and jumped back. Unfortunately, her left foot landed on one of the rotting floor boards and the heel of her shoe broke through. She lost her balance and shifted her weight to her right foot and stuck her arms out for balance. Once extracting her left shoe from the floor board she attempted to straighten herself up, only to discover her left shoe was now missing the heel. Again, the unevenness of her shoes threw her balance into question. In short, she flayed around her foray like a drunken toddler wearing two casts.

Takumi watched in shock. She was doing the ancient mating dance of his native tribe back on his home planet! How had she learned this intricate and complicated work of art? Her performance of the dance was so realistic, it was almost as if she was just naturally falling all over the room breaking things. This, coupled with amazing cooking, made his heart melt. He was smitten.

Misaki finally managed to collect herself and glared at Takumi as she took off her broken shoes and scurried to her room to get a new pair. She came back still looking mad. "Why are you here?" She fumed.

Oh she was playing coy. How enduring. He would put her out of her misery. She was throwing herself at him, the least he could do was to let her know her efforts weren't wasted. "It's alright darling. You needn't act surprised. You clearly love me and I think I can learn to find you attractive as well." Human girls were a little odd looking but he was getting used to them and, as far as humans went, she was better looking than most. If only she had a tail, horns and three more arms. Then she'd really be spectacular.

Misaki looked like she was about explode! She pulled her arm back and punched him in the gut. "That's for calling me darling," she said. Then she slapped his face with her other hand, "and that's for saying that I love you." Then she stomped hard on his toe, "and that is for being plain insulting!"

Takumi looked at her in awe. Maybe she really didn't need those extra arms or the horns. She was amazing using just the frail little limbs she had! She could definitely defend their little brood of aliens all by her lonesome. Now he was more than smitten… he was in love.

And then he remembered Gerald.

Takumi didn't need to wait long to get the call.

"Well hello there little brother," Gerald said as soon as Takumi answered. "Our monitors indicate that your heart rate is elevated, your pheromones are in high production and your sweat glands are producing 8% more fluid. I believe this condition is referred to as 'love' here on Earth."

Takumi remained silent. What was he supposed to say?

"Which one of the members of our mission is the lucky girl?" Gerald continued. It was amusing to see it required a trip to another planet to finally get his brother to notice potential mates. At home, he had been so preoccupied at practicing being human he hadn't noticed any of the attention lavished on him by the local girls.

"Oh… no.." Takumi tried to explain, "it's not any of them. You know… I think my sensors might just be malfunctioning."

Gerald grew a bit concerned. "Is it one of the male crew members?" Gerald asked. Clearly Takumi was being evasive. Gerald considered how their parents would take that news.

"No Gerald," Takumi did his best to try to sound convincing. "I was exercising which I think impacted the heart rate and sweat glands and the whole pheromone thing… I really think it's just a malfunctioning sensor."

Gerald considered his options. "Okay. I'll fly out from England. I'll be there in 20 minutes."

20 minutes! Dang it… Gerald was going to use the space ship again. "Gerald, I don't know where you could land the ship," Takumi explained, "I haven't seen any cornfields around here and Japan doesn't really have any deserts".

"Oh that shouldn't be a problem…. We tripped out our ship so we will just look like a dekotora."

Takumi was impressed, "that's great Gerald. How fortunate Japan has established that trend."

"Luck has nothing to do with it my boy," Gerald explained, "the Ramodones figured out how to negotiate for certain subcultures in Japan."

"Oh! That explains furries!" Takumi felt so enlightened. He knew there had to be a reason so many youths had all simultaneously gone mad. "See you in 20."


	6. Six

Six

Gerald's arrival in Japan would mark the first time the two brothers had seen each other since touching down on Earth. After dropping Takumi and the other member of his team off in Japan, Gerald had flown the rest of the crew to England. They hadn't yet seen each other in their human forms. They had agreed to meet at the café at a specific time and would both wear red shirts to ensure they could find each other. When the hour arrived and the two came face to face, the look on their faces was priceless. They each looked the other up and down from head to toe and then back to head one last time. Speechless? Mortified? Stunned? The look was almost indescribable. Gerald was the first to regain his ability to talk.

"Of all the bodies you had to choose from, you picked that one! Can't you ever do anything original Takumi?"

Takumi was stunned, "Me?! I custom designed this body. I spent 9 months designing this nose. I paid a premium for a one of a kind design. How… how… how did you manage to get ahold of the same design in a different color?!"

Gerald realized what must have happened. "Did you use Claude?" Takumi nodded. "He must have taken your design, changed the colors and started selling it off the rack."

Takumi looked ticked! If intergalactic phone calls weren't so gosh darn expensive he'd be chewing out Claude right now. "Well, that dirty rotten scoundrel!" He paused thinking of his options. At last, he sighed and mumbled, "I guess there's nothing we can do about it now….at least Hiro Fujiwara won't need to further stretch her artistic talents." The brothers walked into the café looking like two sisters that were wearing the same dress to prom.

"Hello Masters," Erika greeted them. She looked up and thought she was seeing double. "Oh my God, Takumi, do you have a twin?" She was already seeing the possibilities. Her and Misaki and the two boys going on dates together, a double wedding, both having their kids around the same age…. A dreamy smile crept over her lips.

"No. This is my older half brother. We have the same mother, but his father is British, while mine was Japanese." Takumi explained.

Erika nodded. Yes that made sense. The blond one was half Japanese and the dark haired one was 100% English. I mean… come on… obviously!

After they were seated, Gerald got right to the point. "So I suspect that you have caught this bug they call 'love' and I'm quite concerned."

Takumi looked a bit worried. "Is this a very bad condition?" he asked reaching up and feeling his forehead for a temperature.

Gerald looked very grave. "I will not hide the truth from you Takumi. For humans, this condition is often a precursor to finding a mate, but the creatures that live on Earth are much different than us. There are several types of bugs that kill off the males after mating. I cannot pretend to be an expert in all areas related to these Earth bound creatures, but my research suggests that for humans the whole mating process seems to be most dangerous for both genders. In short, 'love' seems to be an awful condition for frail humans."

"What… what will it do to me?" Takumi asked. He was afraid, but he needed to know.

"Well, as I understand it, at first, you are likely to start to have balance issues. It seems you will begin to fall with your head somehow falling over your heels. Next it seems you will grow butterflies in your stomach. The symptoms just become increasingly worse, and many of these humans end up having a vital organ shattering into small bits as a result of this terrible condition."

Takumi looked petrified. "Tell me Gerald… is this organ the human heart?"

Gerald was a bit surprised, "you have heard of this?"

Takumi looked so sullen and guilty. "Oh Gerald! I fear I am a murder. Misaki told me to stop breaking hearts but I didn't know what she meant. Yet nearly every girl I have encountered here claims to be in love with me. Is my condition that contagious? Have I truly killed so many of the females here in Tokyo?"

Gerald looked concerned. "My research suggests it is caused by an evil baby that runs around piercing people with tainted arrows, but perhaps there is a strain that can be spread through causal contact."

Takumi looked at his brother with pleading eyes, "Is there a cure? Can this condition be treated?"

Gerald looked a Takumi in the eye, "I promise… I will do everything in my power to help you. I have put Ralph on the case. He is looking for a cure as we speak."

"Ralph!" Takumi was horrified, "Ralph? Wasn't he just the flight steward on our space ship?"

Gerald nodded, "He doesn't really have a job now that we've landed, so I've assigned him to your case."

"Can't you assign Claire?" Takumi asked hopefully.

Gerald scoffed. "I need Claire! She's my personal secretary. Can you imagine if I had to use an idiot like Ralph for such an important position?"

Gerald had a point. Takumi sighed. Well hopefully, Ralph could step up his game. Gerald looked at him again and said, "you know, in case you are contagious, perhaps we should get out of this public area until we know more."

Takumi nodded and the brothers left. A very disappointed Erika watched from the sidelines.


	7. Seven

**Hi! I can't tell you how great it's been reading and receiving your reviews! I really like this fandom because you are all so generous in giving feedback. The feedback is (almost) always appreciated.**

 **MinnieMiss123 thanks for looking into an old story reference for me!**

 **For this story, the fact you read it makes me so happy because… while I think I can be funny… I find I'm often alone in this opinion so it's great to have found at least a few people that "get my humor". I really appreciate the tip on secret vs. secrete. I knew the later looked wrong but spell check obviously didn't say anything and that was one of those words sets I have been struggling with all my life keeping straight so it was a super handy comment. See that's why I like this habit of writing… I haven't written much of anything for so long I had started to revert back to making certain mistakes. But as I write more, I'll start to remember/ learn/ improve – at least in terms of grammar and spelling.**

After the brothers had left the café, it was discovered that Takumi's wallet had fallen from his pocket and was accidentally left behind. The manager requested that Misaki return it to him as the two knew each other outside of work and Takumi was such a regular customer it seemed fitting to provide him with this level of service. As a wait staff returning an errant item to a customer at their home, Misaki felt it prudent to confirm that Takumi did not live in Brentwood, and as he did not, felt no compunction in satisfying her manager's request.

Takumi was watching a documentary called "The Bachelor" on television to learn more about how love worked when he received a call from the café informing him that Misaki would swing by to drop off his wallet. He switched off the television deciding that this would be the perfect opportunity to conduct a little survey. He had been doing some reading about love and mating among Earth creatures and he wanted to determine what type of proclivities Misaki had on such topics. We went to his kitchen and went to work.

When Misaki arrived Takumi insisted that she sit down for a little snack. She had resisted, but she was getting hungry. Had she gone straight home, she would be having dinner now. A quick little snack couldn't hurt.

"Would you like honey or sugar in your tea?" He asked just before bring her the cup.

"Honey please," Misaki responded.

Takumi looked crestfallen. She had chosen honey. A substance made by a race of creatures that force all of the male of their species to leave their home to face certain death every autumn and rip the male genitalia from the male bee's body during the act of procreation.

He watched her take a sip of her tea. "Why exactly is it that you prefer the concentrated regurgitated flower nectar made from bees to sugar?" he asked. He hoped she might have some rational other than showing solidarity with bees.

"Regurgitated?" she asked looking a little disgusted. "You know… now that I think about it, I'll just skip the tea. Thank you."

Takumi looked moderately relieved. She'd reconsidered. Of course it must have been because he reminded her that honey came from bees.

Next he brought out two plates of cookies and watched very carefully to see if she took a fig newton or a chocolate chip cookie. She reached for the fig newtons.

Takumi sighed. Again she had chosen the food that was a product of a species that killed off the males after mating. "Is something wrong Takumi?" Misaki asked.

"No," he responded as he watched her stuff the cookie in her mouth, "I just feel so sorry for all the male fig wasps that died inside those figs you are eating after they burrowed a path out of the fruit for the female fig wasps."

Misaki spit the bits of cookie out of her mouth. "Male wasps die inside of figs?" she gasped.

"Yes, its the only way for the fig to turn into a fruit. Did you not know that?" he asked. She shook her head. He again seemed to cheer up. If she was unaware he really couldn't hold that choice against her. So far, his little quiz was inconclusive, but it it wasn't over yet.

"Now, would you prefer some octopus or crab sushi," he said turning toward the fridge.

"You know, I've sort of lost my appetite," Misaki said getting up to leave. "I'll see you around Takumi," she said waving goodbye and heading out the door.

"Hopefully, I'll be seeing you too!" he called back as the door shut. He'd heard that love could make you blind. He'd already put his name on the list for a seeing eye dog just in case. Well, at least Ralph was working hard gathering information. He'd already called once to say that his initial findings indicated that quite often love could be cured through marriage… but apparently this cure took quite some time to take effect and was not 100% effective. But Ralph also told him, that love could not easily be spread through casual contact. That was good news. He was tired of being cooped up. It had already been four whole hours since he left the café.


	8. Time for new title huh?

**Shubhangi Matta -** **Your comment about voculabary made me chuckle. I've been reading some historical fiction recently and it's made me start to use esoteric words in my speech and writings- my bad. I'm sure some readers are either non-native English speakers or are young readers and I'm guessing they'd rather not need to look up word meanings when reading a fluffy, silly, over the top story. Case in point - I know I watched Monty Python's Holy Grail last night and was wishing they were speaking in English. (Those accents were seriously thick! I mean sure, sure... English is named after, and sort of started, in England and all, but doesn't the country with the most power get to rewrite all the rules including the correct pronunciation? - it's a joke! Don't get all mad. I'm mocking the stereotype we Americans are self righteous, our-way-or-the highway types.)**

Gerald contacted Takumi the next morning with the first piece of practical advise. He said that Takumi's condition might be helped if he avoided spending time with Misaki for a while. He further suggested that while love was not contagious, it did seem probable, given the legions of women throwing themselves at his feet, that somehow being near him could lower a female's defenses and cause her to be more susceptible to acquiring this illness. Takumi did not want to see Misaki become prey to the myriad of symptoms accompanying the disease so he vowed to try to stay away. But, he knew his resolve would wane if he could not have some type of memento to fall back on should his cravings for her become too overwhelming.

Takumi had learned that the café would permit him to have his photo taken with Misaki if he could beat her in a game. It was through this method that he acquired the cherished photo that was stored in his wallet, forever ready to quench his need to see his Misaki.

At school, Misaki noticed something was off, but she couldn't put her finger on it. It wasn't until lunch on the second day that she realized her little shadow was no longer hanging by her side. That was good right? The weirdo was finally acting normal. But as the day wore on, Misaki began to overthink it. Misaki found Sakura and asked her, "Sakura, do you think it's weird if you're normally weird and then you're normal?"

Sakura looked puzzled. "Do you think I'm weird Misaki?"

"No! I meant hypothetically. If someone was weird but isn't weird anymore is that weird?"

Sakura still couldn't understand the question. "Is this one of those trick questions or some sort of riddle?" she asked.

Misaki tried again, "No. I mean, is being different mean being different from your normal self or being different from everyone else?"

"Are you practicing word meanings for the spelling bee?" Sakura asked, "because I don't think the word 'different' is hard enough to be on the test. And I don't think you're supposed to use the word you're trying to define in its own definition."

Misaki was having a hard time trying to ask her question. She wasn't sure if it was her or Sakura. "Never mind," she said.

Maybe it was just easier to check on him to ease her mind. She found him on the rooftop looking at something. It looked like a picture. She approached him from behind and saw it was the picture he'd taken of them at café. Okay, he was still a little creepy. That was good right? Then she realized if she could sneak up and see this picture, a picture of her in that uniform, other people might see it too! He was not just creepy and weird! He was careless!

"What the hell are you carrying that around for?" Misaki yelled, causing poor Takumi to jump. His hand loosened on the photo and it fluttered off of the roof of the building and down into the empty court yard below.

Takumi quickly realized that they were the only two on this roof at the moment. He'd seen what happens next on countless love and dating documentaries. It was time to forget about this disease for a moment and throw caution to the wind. He would put all the fine training he had received to work. If you love a girl and are alone with her, it is customary to grab her and give her a long passionate kiss. It seemed to be some sort of method of marking your territory. Originally, he'd read that many Earth creatures use urine to mark their territory, but he was fortunate to discover humans should only consider this method if their territory was recently stung by a jellyfish. Misaki looked pretty dry so he went with the kiss. For his efforts, he received a very intense slap. "And I was worried about you because I thought you were normal!" Misaki blustered, "but it looks like you're the same perverted alien you have been all along!"

Takumi smiled. She said she was worried! He knew he should be upset that she might be getting sick. Given the love dance and all the other signs, she was likely contracting the same illness he had, but… she was worried!

Misaki would have done more about the kiss, but her mind was focused on that photo. Any minute that courtyard would be flooded with students. Takumi noticed her anxiety. "What is wrong Misaki?" he asked.

"I'm just trying to calculate the fasted way to get to that photo! I need to get it back pronto," she said.

"Oh. That is easy," Takumi said. The fasted path in a three demential space is always a straight line. He stood up and walked to the ledge. Misaki figured out what he was about to do. "Stop!" she yelled, grabbing for him, "you can't jump off a roof! You'll get hurt… or killed!"

It was too late. Takumi was already airborne. But he'd heard what she said. That was so considerate of her to send him a secret message. Now he knew. Jumping off roofs equals injury. 'Yes,' he thought, 'he'd be sure to play the part of injured student to conceal his true nature from the other humans. It sounded much better than the 'dead' option. See. It was good having a girlfriend on the inside.' If Misaki could hear his thoughts, she wouldn't have even remembered his contemplations on being a different species. All she would have heard was the word 'girlfriend' and it would have made her blood boil.

 **Note - I know the urine jellyfish things urban legend, but Takumi doesn't. Arrowbee did you see that? I spelled secret right. Like impressive, huh? No. No, I'm not in 4th grade. Okay fine. Not impressive. But thanks again.**


	9. Chapter 9

**You guys are the best! I keep meaning to stop writing this story because it's so stupid, but you guys are so kind about it, you keep me going.**

Chapter 9

After Takumi landed in the courtyard, he walked over and picked up the photo. He was putting the picture back in his wallet when he heard the school bell ring. The halls would soon fill with students who would then bubble out into the courtyard. He remembered Misaki's advice. Falling was supposed to hurt. He wished she'd been a little more specific, but then again, she didn't have too much time to explain.

Hummm… what sort of pain should he be feeling? Was it the pain of embarrassment for being so clumsy as to fall off a roof? Was it emotional pain brought on by the realization he couldn't fly? Was it physical pain? What was that last bit? Oh right, 'you will be hurt… or killed'. She must have meant physical pain. But what part of his body should be in pain? His ears and nose stuck out, were small and made of cartilage. They were kind of weak. And his baby toe was a very small bone, maybe it was also more fragile. But the force of gravity does have the biggest impact on large things, so maybe one of his leg bones should be injured. He decided to play it safe and just lie down and look sad. Maybe Misaki would give him more clues once she got there.

He didn't need to wait very long for her to arrive. He could hear her yelling at the crowd to get out of her way and sure enough, she was the first person to coming running through the doors to the courtyard. The look of worry was so obvious on her features that his heart fluttered yet again. Oh no! Was that fluttering a sign his heart was breaking? Ugh! Why had he bought the upgrade on the skeletal structure and not splurged and bought the upgrade for the organs?

"Oh my God! Are you crazy?" Misaki stammered as she reached Takumi. She was looking him over to verify he was, in fact, still alive.

Crazy? Crap! Crazy in love…. had he read something about that? Was that a thing? Was that another possible side effect? Why was she asking him this? If you go crazy, is there some sort of look on your face to warn others? Definitely should have paid for the organ upgrade! "I don't think so," Takumi ventured.

Maybe he was being a hypochondriac. She was probably just trying to explain how he was supposed to play off this whole falling thing. There were other people around so she couldn't just say to him, "act like your arm is in pain." Maybe asking him if he was crazy was her way to say his head should be the biting him that was hurting.

That's when he noticed that on her chest were two soft little built in pillows. Why hadn't he noticed those before? Something about them seemed quite appealing. He wanted to reach up and squeeze them. There was one for each hand. How convenient. How nice it would be to lie his head on one of those and have her stroke his face. Yes, she must be suggesting he play that his head was hurt. "My head sure does hurt though," he said. "It would be nice to have a soft spot to rest it."

Misaki nodded. "Goda, get over here and let Takumi put his head in your lap while I run and get the nurse!" Goad complied and sat on the ground. He then gingerly set Takumi's head in his lap. Goda had just finished Rugby practice and hadn't yet had a chance to shower. Takumi's eyes watered as his nose picked up the smell of Goda's sweat. Takumi was further repulsed when he felt an occasional drop of sweat fall from Goda onto his face. This was not what he had in mind. Meanwhile, Misaki had run off to fetch the nurse.

Before Misaki could return, a large black limousine pulled up to the court yard and Gerald emerged. He walked over to where his brother was lying down. He frowned slightly. Takumi hadn't said what type of human he'd fallen in love with. Could it have been this rather odiferous, sticky male human? Takumi did have his head cradled in his lap. Gerald wasn't very pleased. If this human was willing to show such affection publicly, the relationship must be more serious than he'd thought. Very soon, he would need to explain to his younger brother why he could never be allowed to have a relationship with a human. "Takumi," Gerald said drily, "I have come to drive you home."

Takumi could not have been more grateful for a reason to leave. He started to spring up when Goda pulled him back down onto his lap. "Sir," Goda explained, "it seems Takumi just fell from the roof! He needs medical attention!"

Gerald looked a bit baffled. Takumi rolled his eyes. Right. He was "hurt". It would seemodd to just leave. Also, it was pretty clear that Gerald was also unaware of exactly how frail these pathetic human were. He'd need to subtlety tell him about the ruse. "Yep," Takumi piped up, "I fell off a roof, and being the regular, normal human guy I am, I injured my head."

Gerald eyes widened in understanding. "Yes. Yes, of course you did." He jumped aboard the wagon train. "I, being your concerned human brother, will be bringing you to a hospital to get that frail little head of yours examined. Get in the car." Takumi nodded and hopped up. He practically bolted for the car.

Goda was a bit taken aback by the weird conversation between the two brothers and he was shocked by Takumi's ability to move so gracefully with an injury. Gearld could see his shock and believed it was caused by hurt feeling that his brother had departed from the loving embrace so quickly and without a proper goodbye. "Don't worry son,"he said kindly, "I am sure that what you and Takumi had was very special, but the relationship was doomed to fail. I'm sure you'll meet another special someone someday." He smiled and left, leaving behind a puzzled and rather embarrassed Goda behind.


	10. Chapter 10

As soon as Gerald closed the door to the limousine, Takumi asked what really brought him to Tokyo. He was worried Ralph's research had turned up some bad news.

"Actually, I'm here because I'm attempting to file our corporate taxes, and I had a few questions I needed to clarify with you," Gerald explained.

Takumi was not familiar with this phrase, "what is tax, how did our corporation get one, and why must it be filed?"

Hummm. Gerald found these to be some excellent, if not very complex, questions. How could he explain this concept which he was still attempting to understand himself. It was one of the most interesting things yet that had come of their research project into life here in Earth. Perhaps an analogy would work well? "Let's pretend that money is represented through grains of sand and this sand is stored in a cloth bag rather than a bank. If this were true, taxes… and there are numerous such taxes… are various shaped needles that poke holes into the bottom of that bag so that the sand will spill out. I am currently dealing with a rather large knitting needle sized tax."

Takumi stared in bewilderment. That analogy really didn't work for him. "So let's just say money is money… what is a tax," he asked trying to get Gerald to shift his approach.

"Well, the tax I am currently trying to calculate seems to be a fee one must pay for the privilege of being a productive member of society and this fee increases as you are more successful," Gerald explained. Gerald shared Takumi's bafflement. It was a counter intuitive concept. Why would there be a disincentive for members of society attempting to improve the productivity and economic viability of their own society? But both men saw the wonderful possibilities of such a concept. If they could ascertain why humans agreed to pay these fees, they could both become exceptionally rich! At the very least, they would ensure funding of their research for several more centuries.

"And where does this money go? What is it used for?" Takumi continued to grill his older brother.

"Well it goes to the leaders of the government and they use some of it to fund things that everyone benefits from… like roads or parks," Gerald explained it in the same way it had been explained to him.

Just at that moment, the glass between the driver and the passenger's compartment opened. "Excuse me sirs," the driver said, "I hate to interrupt, but we're about to get to the toll booth for the expressway. I'm afraid I don't have any cash to pay the toll."

"Right," Gerald reached into his pocket and pulled out a note for 10,000 yen.

"Sir that's far more than is needed for the toll," the driver explained.

"Yes," Gerald responded, "but I'm hoping to do some sight seeing tomorrow before I head back to England and you can use the balance to pay the park entrance fees for the national sites I wish to see." The driver nodded and rolled up the window.

Takumi would have normally pointed out the irony between the two conversations that had just taken place, but he was distracted by something. "Gerald," he asked, "that man driving the car…. Isn't he… Ralph?"

"Oh yes, yes it is," Gerald said with a smile. It was good to see that Takumi wasn't suffering from memory loss due to that love thing he had. "He wasn't working on anything very important so I decided he could earn his keep as my driver." Gerald was so pleased with himself for making full use of his limited resources.

Takumi looked furious. "That unimportant work he was doing was trying to find a cure for my illness! You know… so I don't go blind, start stumbling around, lose all judgement, die of a broken heart, that sort of thing."

Right. Gerald hadn't seriously considered that Takumi might be upset about this. Takumi wasn't contagious, so it wasn't like this illness would spread around to other members of the crew. "Well I was thinking…. Ummm… you're just a student. Everyone knows students have a ton of free time with nothing to do. Maybe you could look into this illness of yours a little on your free time. I really need Ralph to drive me around tomorrow because I don't know how to get to most of the tourist sites we'll be visiting."

Takumi was incensed. Gerald could sense it. Right right… Claire had come up with a strategy to sell this. Good old Claire. Always predicting when Takumi might throw a silly tantrum about such insignificant issues like his sight, sanity or life, even when such possibilities seemed so remote. Now where was that thing she'd given him? "Ummm… have you seen this movie called Lorenzo's Oil?" he asked. He found it! He'd tucked it away in one of the car's pockets. He handed the DVD to Takumi. "The main characters find a treatment for some illness because they have more of an interest in finding a cure. Clearly it matters more to you to find a cure than it does to Ralph. By assigning the task of figuring this out to you, we have improved the odds for success." Gerald smiled, "I always have your best interest at heart dear brother."

Takumi looked at the DVD. "This DVD is for a different movie Gerald," Takumi said drily.

"Well of course it is,"Gerald replied. "No one sells Lorenzo's Oil on DVD anymore! What time period do you think we're living in? The DVD is just some movie Claire found on sale at the grocery store. You should be impressed we found a DVD at all! It's symbolic of the movie that is supposed to inspire you to find your own cure. If you need to watch the actual Lorenzo's Oil for inspiration, maybe it's on Netflix or something." His brother could be so tiring. "Now… onto my tax questions… this service we're paying for to clear the streets around you of people… can we consider that a business expense?" The balance of the car ride was spent addressing such possible tax deductions.

Once they arrived at his apartment, Gerald handed Takumi a wet washcloth. "Should anyone venture to visit you, please be sure to lay down on your couch and stick this on your head. We must create the illusion that your head injury is being taken seriously." Takumi agreed, but thought the possibility of having a visitor very remote. Gerald finally left as he required a good night's rest before his busy day of site seeing.

No sooner was he gone that Takumi's door bell rang. "It's open," he called assuming it was just Gerald or Ralph coming back to collect something they'd left behind.

Imagine his surprise when Misaki walked in. His first impulse was to dive onto the couch and throw the cold washcloth on his forehead. Then he remembered… it was Misaki. She already knew his little secret. "Oh hi!" he greeted her.

"Shouldn't you be lying down?" She asked nervously.

Takumi looked at her for a second and then a little smirk crept over his face. She was trying to play out some little nurse-patient fantasy wasn't she. Okay. He could play along. "Oh right. Pain. I'm on soooo much pain," he moaned. He went to the couch, lied down and placed the washcloth on his forehead. "Ouchie!"

"Yeah!" she responded, "you jumped off a building! You should be in pain. It's amazing you just hurt your head. I mean, I really appreciate you getting that picture back and all but what were you thinking?"

Takumi sighed. Maybe she had a point. He could have blown his cover. He was suppose to mimic the the locals. That's what they taught them in training. In fact, the instructor would ask, 'if all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?' And then all the crew members would yell, 'yes, sir! Yes.' He hadn't really thought about it until now, but if none of his friends jumped off a bridge, the answer was probably 'No, sir. No'. Misaki was right. Success was found by being a blind sheep following the crowd, not by creating your own path.

"You're right like always Misaki," he said. "Thank you."

She was surprised by his sincerity and by his compliment. But she hadn't come here tonight just to talk about his idiotic action of jumping off a roof. There was also that kiss. "So… if you didn't already have an injury, I would need to punch your head you know."

Takumi had a blank look. She was a bit aggressive but why was she telling him this? He was already aware.

"Because you flat out kissed me," Misaki elaborated, "like without any reason or even asking."

"Isn't that what I'm supposed to do to indicate I have claimed you?" Takumi asked completely befuddled by her thought process.

"Where the hell were you raised?" Misaki asked. "Claim me?! What do you think I am? I'm not some newly found gold mine or something."

Takumi pouted. "I'm sorry… can I get you something to eat? I want to make it up to you."

Misaki looked a little nervous. "Are there any bugs in it?" Takumi shook his head. "Is anything regurgitate?" He shook his head again. "There won't be anything weird?"

"I promise," Takumi answered.

"Okay." She said smiling and sat down on the edge of the couch near his feet. Takumi smiled and waved his hand toward the kitchen. The fridge opened up and a plate of leftovers began floating toward the living room couch.

Misaki turned white. It was as if she'd seen a ghost. She jumped off the couch and bolted for the front door.


	11. References - Clarification

Cultural References – I am sometimes throwing in references that might be unfamiliar to some readers. Let me know if there were some you didn't understand and want me to elaborate on. Here are the ones I thought might stump people.

Chapter 1: We are not permitted to reference real people in stories on this website. Any similarities between characters found in this chapter and real live people, like actress Elizabeth Taylor or singer Michael Jackson, is strictly coincidental.

Chapter 3: The saying normally goes, "an encounter with the Devil look like a day at the beach/in the park". The "McRonalds" refers to an anime called "The Devil is a Part-timer". It's a comedy anime/ manga and is kind of the inspiration for this story. I love that anime. I think it's so funny!

Chapter 5: dekotoras and furries. Two Japanese sub-cultures. The dekotoras are truckers that trick out their big-rigs/lorries to make them look super wild. The furries are people that dress up as or think they are animals. Where I live the Japanese are stereotyped to have more interesting and extreme sub-cultures than many other countries. Romodones is a name I made up for a pretend alien culture. The name is based on a book Rendezvous with Rama which is kind of famous. But "Ramadan" would have not gone over so well (since that is an important religious holiday) and it would have lead to more confusion so I changed it to 'Romodones'.

Chapter 6: Hiro Fujiwara draws the characters for Maid Sama. A prom is this big dance American kids go to in their last year of high-school and it's considered awkward for girls to be dressed the same as their friends. Boys all dress in similar tuxes though. Ralph and Claire are carryover characters from this other Maid Sama fan fiction story called Second Chances. In that story Claire is awesome and Ralph is a steward on a private jet. It seemed fun to reference them here.

Chapter 7: Brentwood is a reference to an affluent neighborhood in Southern California. In 1994, Ron Goldman was a waiter and one of his friends ate at the restaurant he worked at. Her mother left her glasses behind at the restaurant and he offered to bring them to his friend's house on his way home from work. Ron's friend was Nicole Brown Simpson and they were both murdered, at her Brentwood home, that night. A famous football player and actor, OJ Simpson, was Nicole's ex-husband and he was accused but not convicted of the murders. Brentwood has very low crime rates and this was likely a crime of passion not a random act.

Chapter 9: Goda refers to Masara Goda a character in the manga for Maid Sama.

Chapter 10: This chapter contains a reference to taxes. As I've been told... humor is not funny once you explain it. So this is probably not funny to most of you, but it is to me and I'm going to do the unthinkable here and try to explain why. Taxes are complex for corporations but that isn't part of the joke. The joke relative to taxes doesn't really require knowledge of the tax structure but it may not make sense to people that are unfamiliar with taxes. Most corporate income tax structures determine how much tax is owed based on a corporations net income. The tax scale often is sliding, meaning that a higher rate is charged as net income increases. So a corporation might need to pay 15% on any net income earned between $0 and $20,000, but pay 20% on income earned between $20,001 and $50,000. So the more that is earned by the corporation the greater the tax burden. The reason this seems odd to the aliens is because a corporation creates more wealth in the form of enhanced GDP, increased jobs, increased sales taxes, higher property taxes, etc. as it succeeds. Net income is often an indicator or a corporation's success. So even without taxes, it would be beneficial to a society to see a corporation grow and succeed, yet the tax structure charges a corporation more as it obtains success. It would be like a parent charging their child $1 for getting a D in school, $1.50 if they got a C, $2 for a B, and $2.50 for each A. So the child needs to pay their parent more money if they are doing better in school. The money might be going into a college savings account and the parent reasons that with good grades their child need to go to a better more expensive college (and they are helping them save the money) but the student thinks, why should I try to get an A when it's cheaper for me to get a B? That is part of the joke. The other part is the examples of what the tax money is used for. It pays for roads and parks - yet even though taxes supposedly pay for such services, there are additional user fees charged to use these services. This is true in our societies. But the taxes often pays to build and buy the road or park, while the user fees pay to maintain the park or road. But going back to our child/parent analogy, it's like a parent telling the child, "you need to pay me $2.50 for every A you get in school so I can afford to buy groceries to make sure you're well fed in the mornings and able to do your best in school. If you get a B, pay me $2 because clearly the breakfast I served wasn't providing you with enough energy to get an A." The kid agrees and hands over the money. The kid arrives at the kitchen table and asks for breakfast and the parent says, "yes of course I'll feed you, but before I can give it to you, you need to pay me $4." The kid would be like, "WTF?! I gave you $2.50 every time I got an A in school... why do I need to pay you more?" The parent would say, "that was to pay for the groceries. This $4 pays for my time to cook the meal, and wash the plates, and serve the food to you." You can see that this would seem like being charged twice. The joke is that this is how the brothers perceive taxes. As something illogical and kind of unfair. And it's funny because that's kind of true. (At least I think so). But they also see taxes as a huge potential source of income if they can figure out how to make their citizens agree to pay this. Like this is an excellent scam that is completely sanctioned by the government. Basically this chapter mocks our governments and their approach to generating revenue. But I am not anti-tax - I just think it's fun to poke fun at the government.

Chapter 12: the emotion envy/ jealousy is often called the green eyed monster.

'50 shades of grey' is a popular novel that supposedly contains a lot of graphic sexual content and focuses on sadomasochistic practices. (I've never read it so wouldn't know for sure). The title sounds like a discussion of paint swatches to me which is why I think Gerald could confuse it for an interior design book. Since Misaki knew how sexually explicit the book apparently is, and heard that Takumi bought it because of a DVD that his brother gave him, she is assuming the DVD must be porn.

Chapter 13: Jane Austin wrote romance novels between 1811 and 1815. Pride and Prejudice is probably her most famous novel. Emma is another of her novels. All the novels are set during the Regency Era which is when she lived. During that time a lady would never visit a gentleman's apartment by herself. It would be scandalous. A chaparone would always need to be present so no one be could speculate that there was any inappropriate contact between non married people. Boys could not even kiss girls until there was an accepted marriage proposal. Takumi is attempting to greet Misaki in the style of these books, and she responds in the same style. The language from that period is a bit different from the way people speak these days.


	12. Chapter 11

**Again thank you to the loyal readers! A few of you regularly comment and I have to say it's so appreciated! I'd list names but I'd feel terrible if I left someone off and hurt their feelings. So just know, I'm writing this for those of you that keep sending me encouragement and I'm very grateful for your kindness**.

Takumi was startled by Misaki's reaction, but he had quick reflexes and before she could make it out his front door, he'd hopped up from the couch and grabbed her.

"I'm so sorry!" he explained. "I know my cooking pales compared to yours. We can order take out or have something delivered if the left overs are that offensive."

Takumi could have been speaking Latin. Misaki's brain could not make sense of any words at the moment. But she did realized when he stopped her that Takumi was here in the room as well. She needed to save them both. She was the Student Council President and it would not do to leave behind one of the student members in this dangerous situation. Everything in her told her to flee, but she knew she couldn't live with herself if she didn't save Takumi Usui.

"There's a ghost!" She stammered, "we need to get out of here right away." She started pulling him out the door but the idiot was resisting. Hadn't he just seen what had happened? How the hell could he still be standing here? Her gaze had been intentionally avoiding the kitchen area but she had to be brave. "Th…th…there…." she looked up just long enough to spot the hovering plate and pointed toward it then looked back to the ground. What was the best way to react to a ghost? Surely it was best not to look them in the eyes right? She gave Takumi about 20 seconds to take it all in then she again grabbed his sleeve and started pulling him outside into the apartment hallway.

Takumi was a bit puzzled. "That's just a plate of food, Misaki. Ghosts aren't real. Why do you think there's a ghost in my kitchen?"

Was this guy for real? Was he trying to get them killed?! "Floating plate… outside now!" She shouted. Her fear and the urgency of the situation had overcome her shock and she'd found her authoritative voice. Clearly, he was too stunned to recognize or accept the obvious. This wasn't the time or place to gently help him come to grips with this new reality. She needed to get them to safety and if she needed to use force, so be it. She grabbed a hold of his arm and yanked it with all she had.

The jolt took him by surprised. He stumbled forward and fell into the hallway. He managed to knock Misaki over and she fell to the floor landing squarely on her rump. He too came tumbling down directly above her only he was facing the ground. He threw out his arms to break his fall and to prevent his weight from landing on and crushing Misaki. Within a matter of seconds, the two students were sprawled out in the hallway in front of Takumi's apartment in what appeared to be a very compromising position.

Misaki's earlier shouting had caused the neighbors to open their doors to investigate and the elevator doors, which were directly across from Takumi's apartment, opened up at just that moment. In short, there was quite the audience looking with shock at the two young teenagers.

A mother in the elevator shielded her child's eyes and spat out scornfully at them, "this is a public place! Wait until you're in your apartment to do that."

The college students that lived a few doors down were talking among themselves, "Man, I miss young love."

The senior citizen that lived on the other side of the hallway peered blankly over the bodies on the floor, "I don't see what all the commotion is about do you Etna?"

Misaki's mortification managed for the very briefest of moments to distract her from the horrifying event that had led to this calamity. The crowds quickly shuffled away hoping to give the couple privacy, hoping to shield their young from the indecent behaviors of today's youth, or simply because they hadn't had the wherewithal to look down and discover there was anything to observe. It was then that Misaki stammered out, "no. No…this isn't what you think… there's a…"

Takumi having figured out the misunderstanding, needed to keep her quite. She would either further embarrass them both or she would end up revealing his secret if she made a big fuss about the plate. The best way he could think to hush her up was to plant a big kiss over her ever talkative mouth.

"Sweet heart, I've met the boy that lives there. I'm sure it's not what you're thinking. They probably just tripped and you know how it goes. Remember our courtship," a man, and the woman from the elevator, turned the corner onto the corridor outside of Takumi's apartment and stopped. The man looked shocked and the woman looked triumphant. They both immediately turned back around and walked around the corner back toward their own apartment. Takumi could faintly hear an "I told you so." As he stood up off the floor.

Takumi reached down, grabbed Misaki's arm, pulled her into a standing position and then picked her up and, to her horror, carried her back inside the apartment. Her fear was palpable. Before she could scream, he said, "It's not a ghost. That was me. It's a thing I can do."

She froze in his arms trying to comprehend what he had just said. Then she had a thought. A magic trick? That was a God damn magic trick! And he put the in that position… in front of all those people… and then he KISSED HER! Her anger was at a new high. She then realized she was still in his arms and she started hitting him and demanding he set her down.

Takumi wasn't sure if he should let her go. She seemed so upset and he couldn't figure out why. He wanted to try to calm her down first. "Look," he started, "I'm really sorry about everything. I didn't think that thing with the waves and particles would freak you out so much. And I just lost my balance because you are so much stronger than I realized and you surprised me with that tug. And the kiss… it was just to shut you up so you didn't tell people you thought there was a ghost."

"What do you mean thing with waves and particles," she asked slowing down her rate of punching slightly.

"The plate thing… you know, that thing I can do."

She was curious. She was still really mad, but she needed to know how he'd done it. "You are going to show me right now, how you did that magic trick," she informed him. Takumi relaxed a little. He set her down knowing she wasn't about to bolt from his apartment.

"Can we sit back down on the couch while I explain it?" he asked hopefully. Misaki nodded and the two settled back into the living room. "Are you hungry?" he asked. Misaki looked over at the kitchen with suspicion. So far, there was always some unpleasant surprise with the things coming out of there but she was hungry. Very hungry in fact.

"You said there was nothing weird!" She protested. "That magic trick was really REALLY weird!"

Takumi smiled and walked over and retrieved the plate he had earlier attempted to offer her. He brought it to her. "I didn't realize that was weird. I clearly still have a lot to learn. That's why I am so glad I get to interact more closely with you. You have really been opening my eyes to so many new things." He returned to the couch and put the plate on the coffee table in front of her.

Misaki put one of the pork buns that was on the plate into her mouth. It was unbelievably delicious. With the exception of the tea and fig newtons she hadn't really tried any of Takumi's cooking before. "Dear God!" she moaned, "did you make these?"

Takumi looked down and his face blushed. "I'm sorry. I'll order something. I know I'm a terrible cook."

"You must be flipping kidding me!" Misaki talked with her cheeks full of food and greedily grabbed more pork buns from the plate balancing as many as she could in each fist. "These are the best tasting things I have ever eaten!" Misaki completely forgot about being mad or scared. She almost forgot about the magic trick. Not quite… but close.

She was weighing the pros and cons of trying to eat all of them and dealing with a stomach ache later or leaving some behind on the plate when Takumi asked, "I can wrap the ones you don't want to eat now up for you and you can take them home." He wasn't sure if she was just being polite, but either way, that would allow her to avoid overeating. A part of him hoped she was being honest about his food. If she honestly thought it was okay, maybe it was because her feelings for him were marring her judgement. A smile crept over his face at the thought.

"Um…umkay" came Misaki muffled assent through her mouth stuffed full of food. She set the fistfuls of buns back on the plate and he walked them back to the kitchen. Yep... walked. He wasn't going to do anything to spook her. She was still mildly afraid of the kitchen but she was even more afraid that one of those buns wouldn't make it into her package, so she followed him to watch.

"So… you know how ocean waves are generated or how a little earthquake in the ocean can cause a tsunami far away," Takumi asked as he wrapped up all the pork buns. Misaki nodded. She wasn't sure where this was going, but she was a little pre-occupied counting how many buns were left so she'd just let him rattle on for a bit. "The plate thing is sort of like that." He looked over at her she had looked up from the food. She had a very skeptical expression on her face. "Air is made up of many gases, which are invisible, and other particles but everything is really spread out. If you compress the gases they can transform into a liquid. Liquids, if you could control their movement, can do things like pull things over and carry things away and if the liquid is more dense, than say a plate, the plate will float above the liquid. That thing with the plate, I just pushed the gases and particle together with my hands so they would act the way I wanted them to. And you can actually have a bigger force if you have some distance to work with like with a tsunami. It's really not a big deal. I mean sure, it takes some practice to fine tune it to get the air to work the way you want it to, but it's not… what did you call it… magic."

Misaki looked at him. "I know a good magician never reveal his secrets but that is the biggest bunch of BS I have ever heard." She started feeling around the kitchen for hidden wires. "You can't seriously think I'd buy that."

Takumi watched as she examined the handle of his fridge. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sure there is some little trigger or something over here. Did you remove all the evidence when you walked over here to get the buns out of the fridge? Was that food your little diversion tactic?"

Takumi wasn't sure what to say, "No. I told you how I did it. It's not a trick. It's just science that is a little more advanced than you're used to."

With that Misaki turned and gave him a death stare. "I am in the most advance science course in our school and I will have you know I am the top student!"

"Well, technically we are tied for the best student right now…" Takumi corrected. He quickly realized that he had just made a huge mistake.

"I come over here to check up on you. You then scare me half way out of my mind! You knock me down and climb on top of me and kiss me in front of all those people! You say you'll show me your magic trick, but instead you give me some lame explanation. You hide the equipment you used to do the trick. Then you imply that you are a better science student than I am! I am so out of here." Before he could stop her, Misaki flew out the front door and slammed it behind her.

Takumi was still standing in shock when the door bell rang two minutes later. Misaki was at the front door. "I forgot my pork buns!" she yelled. He ran back and brought her the package. "Thank you!" She snapped back at him and turned and marched into the waiting elevator in a huff.


	13. Chapter 12

After Gerald had left his brother's apartment, a thought occurred to him. Today it was by pure chance that he happened to stop by his brother's school right after Takumi had done something which could have caused a human injury. What would have happen if he hadn't stopped by? If a nurse had shown up, or if the students had rushed his younger brother off to the hospital, would the health care professionals that examined Takumi be able to tell that his human body was not exactly the same as those generated organically here on planet Earth? Could Takumi, or any of the crew members, so easily and inadvertently compromise the whole mission?

It seemed that Takumi's circumstances were unique. Unlike other crew members, Takumi lived all by himself. Further, his assignment did not require frequent interactions with the other members of the crew left behind in Japan. This of course was not a problem if Takumi was really hurt. If that happened, or if the disease he'd contracted finally did destroy his heart, the various monitors that reported on each crew member's vital signs would alert members at mission headquarters. But Gerald needed to make sure that someone contacted him directly if his brother had any perceived injuries - things that would not trigger the monitors but would cause the humans around him to become concerned. If Gerald was contacted at such times, he could intervene before his brother was examined by a human medical professional. Gerald asked Ralph to return to his brother's apartment. He needed to discuss this matter with Takumi.

When Gerald arrived, he noticed a girl about Takumi's age leaving the elevator in a huff. She was carrying a package of pork buns that looked surprisingly like the one's Gerald had seen in Takumi's refrigerator earlier that evening. Perhaps Gerald had found a solution even without Takumi. Gerald decided to investigate.

"Excuse me," he said approaching the girl. She looked up and nearly dropped the pork buns when she saw his face. She looked surprised and a little scared. Then a wave of understanding swept over her face and her expression returned to one of anger.

"Is this another one of your magic tricks Takumi Usui!" the girl barked at Gerald.

"What?" Gerald looked puzzled. Then he remembered they were wearing the same bodies. "Oh no. I understand your confusion, but my name is Gerald. I'm Takumi's older brother. I am wondering, how do you know my brother?"

Misaki was surprised. Erika had mentioned his brother could be Takumi's twin. Boy, she wasn't kidding. "I am the Student Council President at Seika High. As it is my responsibility to look out for each and every student at the school, I know your brother and stopped by to check up on that," she paused. The words 'annoying jerk' were on the tip of her tongue but perhaps she should rethink her choice of words. "…student," she finished.

Ah ha! Gerald may have just found the perfect patsy. "Yes," Gerald said, "My brother can be quite impulsive. It was sheer luck I happened to stop by his school today after he foolishly pulled that stunt. I often have to work out of town, so I worry terribly about my little brother. If only I knew someone reliable and responsible that could keep an eye out for him and give me a call if he were ever injured or hurt," he sighed for affect. "That would make me feel so much more comfortable with him being here in this big city by himself so much of the time."

Reliable? Responsible? Misaki was so the person for this job! "As Student Council President, I am happy to take on the responsibility of keeping you informed of your brother's health!" she said standing as if at attention.

Gerald smiled at her enthusiasm and commended her for her thoroughness in overseeing her official duties. Misaki lapped up the praise like a puppy dog that is being rewarded for retrieving a stick. Gerald gave her his phone number and left the hotel. Misaki looked at the slip of paper with the phone number written on it. She smiled. The next time she needed to negotiate a favor from Erika, she knew exactly what she had to offer as an exchange and she knew how much it was worth.

The next morning, Takumi opted to stay home from school. Officially, his decision was to give the appearance of needing time to "recover" from his injuries. It was thus that Misaki found herself unencumbered, lacking her accompanying stalker during her morning rounds. As Misaki was strolling the grounds, keeping the students of Seika High in line, a few words floated through the hallways and stopped her in her tracks. "So Tiki, when are you going to corner Takumi and confess your feelings?"

Misaki couldn't believe it. Her life was already stressful enough. She had such a big secret she had to keep from the world. She had to hide an aspect of her life from everyone she encountered. Yet Takumi, this guy who didn't have a care in the world, kept adding to her stress. Now she would need to make a note to schedule in time tomorrow to console Tiki for a broken heart. And that would take hours. This job could become truly tiresome.

"That never seems to work with him," Tiki replied, "I've been watching and I think he responds better to actions than to words." She paused for effect and Misaki felt her chest tighten a little. It was an odd feeling. It was similar to the feeling she had when someone else would get a higher score than her on a test or when the teacher would give another student a compliment but say nothing about her own work. "A nice girl never kisses and tells, but since I'm not a nice girl, let's just say I plan to do a lot more than just kiss." The group of girls giggled and walked to class which was in the opposite direction from where Misaki was concealed. Misaki had to stop this. She told herself it was to protect Tiki. Clearly Takumi was a pervert and Tiki was just going to get hurt unless Misaki stepped in. But if she were to be 100% honest with herself if she could truly read her own heart, Misaki would know that maybe it was her own heart she needed to protect.

Misaki decided that she should appeal to Takumi's brother. Tiki was considering putting herself in a position that could damage both her own and Takumi's reputations. Surely his brother might want to assist in preventing such an unseemly situation. It turned out Misaki was right. Gerald was very grateful for the phone call and told her not to worry at all as he would be sure to take care of the situation this very day so his poor brother would not be bothered once he was well enough to return to school.

Gerald had two motivations to embroil himself in this area of his brother's affairs. First of all, it could compromise the mission or bring unwanted attention in their direction if his brother opted to develop some type of relationship with a human. Gerald wanted to cut off this Tiki before things went very far to avoid any such problems. Second, on Gerald's last birthday, Takumi had thought it would be amusing to play a little prank on him. Gerald had been waiting for an opportunity to repay the favor. Gerald rolled down the glass in the limousine. "Ralph," he asked, "did you put the 'Takumi' kit in the trunk?"

"Of course Sir," Ralph responded. Ralph had been told to make sure it was available and ready at all times. Gerald smiled. He had been waiting and preparing for this moment for months.

When Gerald arrived at the high school, he asked Ralph to retrieve the kit which was being kept in the trunk of the car. He decided it would be better to put on his disguise before exiting the car. That would ensure his identity was not be questioned. Gerald put on the wig and contacts and he was practically indistinguishable from his brother. He pulled out a packet of seaweed and used dental floss to lodge bits of seaweed between his teeth. He took the sweaty gym shirt he'd been storing for months and rubbed it all over his chest before putting on the school uniform. He took a spray bottle and wet the area under his arms to give the appearance of sweat marks. He also wet his hands to give the appearance of having sweaty palms. He opened the door to the car before removing the shoes from the zip lock bags. The shoes each contained a fish, which was of course quickly discarded, leaving behind an atrocious smell. Gerald chugged a bottle of soda. Now he was ready.

Gerald texted Misaki, who told him which classroom Tiki would currently be in. It was nearly lunch time so as soon as the school bell rang student came flooding out of the classes filling the halls and spilling out into the lunch yard. It was crowded but Gerald had strategically picked to stand in a spot that put him in the direct line of sight from the exit for Tiki's classroom. Sure enough, she saw him instantly and came right over. "Hi Takumi," she said smiling. "Can I talk to you for a minute, maybe somewhere a little more private?"

Gerald smiled, exposing the bits of sea weed stuck in his teeth. "Of course Tiki!" He grabbed her hand and led her to an empty table that was in the center of the lunch court. It wasn't at all secluded but Gerald had been planning this for months and he wanted an audience.

Once Gerald had released her hand, Tiki wiped off the moisture on her pants. She tried to be discreet. She leaned in to Gerald and whispered seductively, "I was thinking maybe even more private as in fewer people."

"But Tiki," Gerald whined, "it's just the two of us at this table!"

She resigned herself to having this discussion out here in the open. Before she began, she decided it might be less distracting if Takumi could do something about his teeth. She'd mention it to him. "Um," she whispered awkwardly, "there is something stuck in your teeth."

"Oh my," he said, "this is so embarrassing. Do you have a mirror I can borrow?" Tiki shook her head. She tried to suggest he go use the bathroom mirror but before she could speak, he'd turned to the students sitting at the table behind them. "Do you have a mirror I can borrow," Gerald asked. When they did not, Gerald climbed onto the table and in a loud, clear voice asked the students at large if anyone had a mirror he could borrow. Tiki looked rather embarrassed but her look changed to sheer dread when Gerald found a mirror and very loudly and obviously used his fingers to dig out the various bits of sea weed from his teeth. Gerald's actions were designed to attract maximum attention and he had succeeded. Several students were now watching the pair.

Once his teeth were cleaned, Gerald turned back to Tiki, "so sorry about that. What did you want to talk about?"

Tiki opened her mouth to speak and Gerald began digging in his ear with his pinky finger. "What are you doing?" Tiki asked.

"Oh," Gerald replied, "I'm really hoping to have a girlfriend by Christmas and I want to to be able to make her something really personal and special for a gift. I am planning to make her a candle. I've been collecting ear wax for the last eight months so it will truly be from me." Several of the students that had been watching them looked away in disgust.

Tiki looked perturbed. She wanted to suggest he use q-tips but she didn't want him to again ask everyone if they had some he could use. She also didn't want to give the impression that she thought his idea for a gift was acceptable in the least. While she was deciding what to say, Gerald continued.

"I've also been saving belly button lint for the past 5 years and have been felting it. I have enough to make her one mitten. At this rate, I think I'll need to start asking other students if I can have their lint as well if I want to have enough felt to make her a pair." The students that hadn't yet turned away, did so at this time. Tiki was beginning to rethink her desire to confess.

"Hey, Tiki?" Gerald asked before letting out a large burp, "do you mind if I take off my shoes? I need to air them out because of the fungal infection. Lunch is one of my few opportunities to do so." Before she could respond, Gerald had removed his shoes and Tiki was hit with the worst smell she could remember encountering. Gerald than stuck his feet up on the seat next to Tiki and reclined back a bit with his hands linked behind his head. Tiki noticed the wet spots near his underarms. She also started to notice a new smell. This one was more like body odor.

"You know, Takumi," Tiki started, "I was just wondering about a homework assignment, but I see Mia over there and I'll just get it from her."

Gerald smiled to himself and thought gleefully, 'you're welcome little brother.'

Gerald went back to the limousine and freshen up and changed back into his suit. He texted Misaki to let her know he had met with Tiki who seemed to have mysteriously reconsidered her interest in his brother. Misaki quickly texted back and asked if there was anything she could do to express her thanks. He had, after all, saved her hours of consoling Tiki. Gerald, who had planned to go sight seeing, was interest in picking up a good guide book. He texted Misaki back to let her know that no thanks was necessary but he did ask if she could recommend a bookstore. It was through a series of such texts that Misaki soon found herself in the limousine with Gerald directing Ralph on how to get to a bookstore that was popular with the students. Misaki was glad that she had a free period following lunch.

Coincidentally, Takumi had decided to head to the book store himself. While it was true that Takumi had stayed home to avoid scrutiny related to his recent "accident", there had been more on his mind. Misaki's words from the night before had impacted him. He reflected that she had continuously rebuffed his efforts to physically demonstrate their romantic connection. At first he had passed off her reactions as being coy, but perhaps his approach to courting had been flawed. Thus far, his research had focused primarily on reality television, but as a scientist, he knew he needed to review several sources of information to truly be well informed on his disease as well as his efforts to woo Misaki. His trip to the bookstore was the next step in his efforts to expand his research.

The book clerk nearly chocked on his coffee when a second customer entered his shop. Two customers… in one day?! He pulled out his cell phone to verify that the internet hadn't been sabotaged. Nope. Two sets of people looking for real paper books? These guys must be from another planet or something.

Takumi was standing in the romance section looking through the bargain bin. He had found a book that had made it onto several best sellers lists, had been turn into a major motion picture and seemed to have a number of very favorable reviews. He picked it up and proceeded to the check out counter when he suddenly heard Misaki's voice. He followed the path as if he were a trained bloodhound and her voice was the scent he'd been taught to locate. Once he'd found her, he paused. She was talking to some guy with dark hair. The guy had his back turned on him, but Takumi could see he was wearing an expensive suit.

Takumi's mother had always told him he was a wee bit possessive. She'd first noticed this trait when Gerald had borrowed his favorite toy truck. Gerald forgot to put it back in Takumi's bedroom before Takumi got up from his nap. When Takumi found the toy missing, he went over and cut off Gerald's hand. It took three whole days for the hand to grow back. Ahhh…. Good times. His parents loved to retell that story.

At this moment, Takumi once again felt the green eyed monster tap on his shoulder. Who was that guy talking to his Misaki? Was it time yet again to mark her? She didn't seem all that respective to getting marked and the kiss didn't seem to last very long. Should he try rubbing his scent all over her? Maybe he could make the guy look like a fool? Whatever he decided, he needed get over there to put the actions in motion. He decided it would be better to approach from behind Misaki so he could see the guy's face. Also, if need be, it would be easier to pick her up and carry her off if she didn't see him coming. He walked down the shelves of books parallel to her and came back around her isle so that he was now standing behind her. His mind wasn't functioning, however, because in front of him stood…. Gerald.

Gerald looked up and saw his younger brother. Takumi's mouth was hanging open and he was staring at him. Gerald made a note to have the joint in Takumi's jaw assessed. It was not normal for his mouth to hang open like that. "I thought you were staying home to recover," Gerald commented with a pointed glance thrown to Misaki. Gerald was concerned that if the Student Council President saw Takumi out and about, her suspicions might be raised. Takumi understood his brother's meaning and would have explained that his girlfriend already knew about his secret, but there were store employees around and, frankly, he was more concerned why Gerald was here… with her!

"I thought you were going sightseeing," he shot back. Misaki jumped. She hadn't heard anyone approach behind her. She was simply trying to process Gerald's comment. It had surprised her to hear Takumi's voice, but Takumi's presence did a lot to help explain Gerald's comment.

"Takumi," she said, "you should be lying down!"

"Misaki," he said, "you should be at school!" Takumi's eyes were narrowing. Clearly they were both trying to get rid of him.

Gerald could see his brother was just going to repeat back some altered version of any phrases said to him, like a defective parrot. He was clearly annoyed for some reason. Maybe Takumi was still upset about him pulling Ralph off that research assignment. That's when he saw the book in Takumi's hand. He thought maybe Takumi was here to find research, but he seemed to be holding a book on interior design. "Takumi," Gerald asked, "are you looking to paint your apartment?" Takumi looked confused. Gerald pointed to the book in his hand.

Takumi turned the book over and read the title out loud, "50 Shades of Grey." It's true. It was an odd title for an instruction manual. "Oh no. I got this book because of that DVD you gave me yesterday." There was no need to mention his disease around Misaki. He didn't want to worry her.

Misaki took in the book and the idea that Takumi had watched a DVD that had made him interested in reading erotic fiction. She blushed. This was not appropriate conversation to have so openly.

Both Gerald and a Takumi saw her change colors. Was she part chameleon? They hadn't read about humans doing that. Takumi remembered, she had turned white the evening before when she saw the floating plate. "Misaki, are you okay," he asked, "you keep changing colors."

Misaki blushed deeper. "I knew you were a pervert… but…" she pointed to the book and looked away embarrassed.

Takumi looked at the book again. "What this?" he asked. "I just wanted to learn more about dating rituals. I'm a little inexperienced." He couldn't see why it was making her so uncomfortable. Was it in the bargain bin because it wasn't able to live up to its hype?

Misaki looked surprised. "You're getting dating tips from that?" This explained a lot. No wonder the idiot kept grabbing her and kissing her. Jesus. Her duties at helping the students of Seika High were endless. She was tasked with guiding them in ways she never could have conceived. She took to book out of Takumi's hand, tossed it back in the bargain bin and told him to follow her. She was still wondering what kind of DVD his brother must have given him on the subject of dating, but based on some of the texts her friends had been sending her, it seemed Gerald was a bit of a practical joker. She wasn't sure what he'd said to Tiki, but she suspected Takumi would be paying the price tomorrow. Maybe Gerald was actually responsible for Takumi's perverted ways.

Misaki brought Takumi over to the classics section and pulled out some Jane Austin novels. If you're looking for novels dealing with dating, these ones were a little old fashioned, but what did they say… oldies but goodies? "Here," she said as she put the books in Takumi's hand, "try these. They're classics."

Takumi was grateful. "Thank you," he said, "but why are you here… with Gerald?"

Misaki looked back over toward the travel section. "Oh, that's nothing. I ran into him at the start of lunch and told him I'd help him get to a bookstore. He wants to go sightseeing and is looking for a guide book." Takumi cheered up. Misaki looked back at Takumi, "now that you have your books, you need to go back home and lie down. You need your rest."

Takumi smiled. "Promise you'll stop by after school?" Misaki agreed. If it meant getting more pork b… she meant…getting him rested… she'd stop by. At the checkout, Takumi ran into Gerald again. He offered him a ride back to his apartment, and the trio went their separate ways.

 **Maybe it's because summer is coming to an end but I am struggling to think of funny things these days – hence the slow update and maybe less than funny chapter.**

 **Thanks Padfoot Starfyre for suggesting the bookstore scene.**

 **Thanks SweetH34R7 and MinnieMiss123 for the reviews each chapter.**

 **I'm dying to know if anyone that was reading this at the beginning are still reading it. I really want to cover Gerald and Takumi's discussion about a Takumi dating Misaki but I think I should wrap this story up soon. Like it's probably run its course.**


	14. Chapter 13

Takumi was a voracious reader and had finished both 'Emma' and 'Pride and Prejudice' before Misaki stopped by his apartment. He was shocked at how much different dating and romance were in these stories when compared to the shows he had watched. He was also becoming very suspicious that love might not be an actual disease. He decided that he would consult with Misaki on these matters. She was clearly quite knowledgeable and intelligent. After all, she was tied with him for highest marks in most of their school subjects.

When Misaki arrived she had quite a few packages for him. "These packages were all sitting near your locker and they had labels saying they were for you, so I figured I'd drop them off since I was coming over here anyway." Takumi was rather surprised. He had received flowers, love notes, candy and such things on a regular basis, but when he opened up these packages they contained things like yarn, knitting needles, instructions for knitting and crocheting, there was a book on candle making, and a list of jewelry stores in town. The items were not the normal offerings left by his herd of followers.

"Humm….It seems I am either viewed as quite crafty, or our fellow students feel I need to develop such skills," Takumi mused out loud.

"Well," Misaki considered, "I really can't say why these were there but your brother came by the school today and it's possible he may have something to do with it."

Takumi groaned. He didn't know what Gerald might have done, but he imagined his reputation would have taken a hit. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe he could get a little more solitude. Being so popular wasn't necessarily what it was cracked up to be. Besides, if Gerald had done something to humiliate him at school, he could finally rest bit easier at home. Ever since he'd played that last prank on Gerald, Takumi had been waiting to discover he'd been super glued to the toilet seat.

"Well, Miss Ayuzawa, might I have the pleasure of inviting you in," Takumi attempted to try out the new method of courting he'd been studying, "unless of course, it would be improper since we lack a chaperone."

Misaki looked at Takumi. Was he trying to be funny? She'd suggested those novels. Was he trying to mock her suggestions? Takumi could tell by her expressions he wasn't doing this right. Why did females need to be so hard to figure out? Takumi sighed, "I'm still doing something wrong aren't I?"

"Well Mr. Usui," she retorted in her most posh accent, "I was taken aback by your manners as they are over a century out of date, but as I expect my constitution will be much improved upon a brief respite and light refreshments, I find I cannot decline your kind offer despite the scandalous lack of a chaperone."

Takumi took Misaki's coat and directed her to the couch while he went to the kitchen to prepare the 'light refreshments'. Before he'd had a chance to speak, Misaki noticed a cute little kitten timidly approaching her. She picked it up and started stroking its fur. "Oh, you're so cute," she practically purred into the little ball of fur she was cuddling.

Takumi looked over from the kitchen and smiled. "I see you found my new live stock," he said. "I couldn't believe it. I just found it wandering the streets on my way back from the bookstore. I thought, with a little fattening up, that animal could be delicious!"

Misaki shot Takumi a glare and looked back at the kitten, "you just ignore that mean old Takumi! He has a dark sense of humor, but he would never think of really eating something as adorable as you."

Takumi swallowed. Oh. She made it sound like he wasn't supposed to eat that thing. What was he supposed to do with it then? No wonder it was walking the streets unattended. After he brought it home, he'd watched it for hours. It didn't seem to have any notable skills. Heck. It couldn't even seem to take care of itself. It had been making all this noise so he figured it was hungry. He'd left a can opener and can a food near it and the creature just stared at him like he wanted to know, 'what do you expect me to do?' Clearly, this creature was of no use to the mission. Takumi was wondering what to do with such an incredibly useless animal when Misaki started talking to it again.

"No. no. He'd never hurt you! You're his little buddy. Yes you are. You will keep him company so he doesn't get so lonely in this big empty place. And don't you worry… I'll protect you just like I do for all the girls at school. I'll come over all the time and make sure he's treating you right." A ha! The cat was Misaki bait! How fortunate he had found it. Thank goodness he had been waiting to fatten it up before cooking it. Now that he knew it's real purpose he could use it to its full potential. "So Takumi," Misaki asked, "what are you going to name her?"

He probably shouldn't mention he'd been calling her 'Dinner' since he'd brought her home. "I guess I haven't settled on a name yet," he answered. Misaki nodded and set the kitten back down on the floor.

She noticed a DVD on the coffee table. Maybe it was the one Gerald had given Takumi. The thought made her blushed. It was probably something rated X. Just then, the kitten jumped up on the table and managed to knock the DVD off the table in the process. The case flipped over and she saw that it was an episode of some kid's show. It appeared to be aimed at Preschoolers. She picked it up and read the back description, 'explore with your favorite group of friends as you learn about animals that live in the Ocean.' "So Takumi," she asked, "what's with this DVD?"

"Oh. Gerald gave that to me," he responded flatly.

"Is this the DVD that inspired you to go buy that book?" Misaki was incredulous.

"You mean '50 shades of grey'?" She blushed. He took that to mean he had guessed correctly. "Sort of. I mean I didn't watch the DVD. In fact, I'm not even sure how to watch a DVD. But the gift was really more of a symbolic suggestion my brother gave me to tell me to educate myself about life here as a teenager." Misaki nodded. That made more sense. Although why Takumi thought that book would have been educational she'd never understand. Being on the general topic, Takumi decided to get Misaki's thoughts about his medical condition. "Misaki," he asked with a bit of hesitation, "is being in love a terribly bad thing?" She blushed a new shade of red. He didn't think she could get any brighter. "I mean, is it so terribly dangerous?" he continued. Nope. Apparently her checks could get even brighter.

"Well," she mumbled, "it's just a feeling. It's not like love itself can hurt you. I suppose some people do things that get themselves hurt because they can't understand their own feelings, but I don't really know much about that. I've never been in love."

Takumi was both uplifted and deflated by her answer. His suspicion was right! He wasn't in any real danger. But… Misaki hadn't been in love. That part hurt. He wanted to ask her why that hurt him, but he was feeling a little shy suddenly about telling her it was painful to hear her say that. He had other questions for her. Maybe he'd circle back to this after it stopped feeling like his heart had plummeted into his belly. "Why would you give me a book that is over a century out of date when I told you I'm trying to learn how these social interactions work?" He was curious more than angry. He'd enjoyed the stories he'd read but sometimes… no often… Misaki puzzled him.

"I was trying to help balance out what ever it is you have been reading on the subject. It seems your current approach to dating might be… ahead of its time," Misaki explained. "You need to find something in between the two. Less bold than you are but less formal than your greeting there at the door." Her mind went back to his Regency Era greeting and she giggled. "I honestly can't imagine how you would take my advice so literally. I know you're from England and all, but surely there can't be that much of a cultural gap between our two countries."

Takumi set a plate of yakitori in front of Misaki. She tried a bite. Her eyes grew wide. This was even better than the pork buns! Takumi's brow was twisted. He bit his lip and finally ventured to ask, "why do you say I'm from England?"

"Well," Misaki said between bites, "when I called you a perverted space alien, you got upset because you thought the term alien was a derogatory term for expatriate." She knew she should explain that she'd meant no offense, but then again... this yakitori wasn't going to eat itself.

"So you referred to me as an alien because I came from England," Takumi frowned. His heart was beginning to sink even further. The woman he loved, the woman that he thought understood all aspects of him and had accepted him for who he was… she might not even know something as fundamental as his species?

"No," she said before stuffing another bite in her mouth. Takumi smiled. He was worried over nothing. She swallowed and continued, "I called you an 'alien' because you're so strange sometimes." She took another bite but upon seeing his expression she started talking again with her mouth full, "I mean your enduringly strange, like what a great chef you are. I didn't mean it to be as insulting as you took it. I'm sorry."

Takumi needed to make sure this was perfectly clear. "So you called me an alien as a friendly insult but you saw that I took it too much to heart because I was British and I was upset that you were mocking my national identity?"

Misaki looked up with her chop sticks still in her mouth. "Um hum," she nodded. Then, through the muffled sounds she made as she ate, he was able to decipher that she said, "but not an insult… more of a nick-name."

That would explain her panic over the plate thing, Takumi thought. But what should he do? He wanted a relationship with this girl and he wanted it to be built on the truth. "So," he said after a minute with one of his charming smirks, "how would you react as President if one of the students at our school was an actual alien from another planet?" He watched her crew her food and ponder the question. "I mean wouldn't that be super cool?" he continued.

She swallowed. "If by cool you mean completely freaking scary! I think the one thing worse than a ghost, would be an alien! Can you imagine how creepy something like that would be?"

The color drained from Takumi's face. "You're being a little harsh to our intergalactic exchange student don't you think? I mean, surely someone chosen to visit from another planet would have been picked because he… or she… was super smart and charming right?"

The yakitori was all done so Misaki could finally speak more easily. "Nah. I bet they would send someone that was a bit of a loser. That way, if the mission failed, they wouldn't lose anyone valuable. Like how they shipped all the criminals off to Australia to get rid of them. They'd probably send the least useful suckers off to another planet for a life time. Like someone like your brother,". She was teasing because Takumi seemed to have a strained relationship with agerald. But Takumi didn't seem amused with her comment. She thought she'd better move away from that flop. "But regardless, even if they happened to send their best and brightest, I'd still do everything in my power to identify them and notify our government so we could dissect and research them."

Takumi was beginning to feel annoyed with Misaki. "You seem to be a speciest."

"A what?"

"Racist, sexist, speciest. Or would you rather be called a… a species shamer? Either way, you seem like a bigot casting judgement and threatening a whole race of beings before you even met one!" Takumi was clearly getting upset but Misaki wasn't sure why.

"Takumi," she said, "I don't understand why you're getting all worked up. There are no aliens, so this whole conversation is just ridiculous."

Takumi took a deep breath. He dropped his head. "You know Misaki, I feel rather tired from my fall yesterday. I think it's best if you go home so I can rest."

Misaki found herself disappointed. She'd been missing him at school and had been looking forward to spending some time with him. It surprised her but she really hated to go and even more surprising was that he looked so sad and it was making her feel terrible. "Okay Takumi." Misaki then walked over and did something that shocked even her. She gave him a hug goodbye. But what was truly odd was that Takumi didn't respond at all. He just stood there until she'd left and his front door was closed.

 **Padfoot Starfrye - thanks again for suggestion of making Takumi take Licht in with the intention of eating him.**

 **Thanks for hanging in there amberemerald792 and of course to anyone else that continues to read my stuff. It is exciting for all authors on this site to see that someone is reading things you write and it's even more amazing when they favorite, follow or review. I mean, sure, I know my writing leaves a lot to be desired and you can never look externally for validation, but it's still so cool to get evidence that it's better than you imagine it is. Like not everyone requires bribery to have to hear more of my ramblings...**


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Takumi pick up his kitten and brought it to the couch. He started stroking its fur and found that, yes indeed, it did make him feel less lonely. The creature was, in fact, duel purposed. "Well… I know you need a new name, but until we pick one, let's stick with the original, shall we?" Takumi asked the small creature in his arms. "Dinner, what do you think we should do about Misaki?"

Dinner looked up at him, "meow".

Takumi shook his head. He'd thought to study 75 different human languages but he hadn't covered a single feline language and here he was with a cat as a roommate. Things always seemed to workout that way for him.

"I'm sorry," Takumi said, "I don't understand 'cat'." The kitten looked up at him and then nuzzled her head into his arm, insistently rubbing itself against Takumi. Takumi resumed the petting and reflected. Suddenly, Takumi had a thought. He became certain that Dinner was trying to give him advice. The kitten had insisted on rubbing itself against him until she received attention and had refused to allow Takumi to ignore her. That must have been her way to suggest that he not give up on Misaki. He needed to force Misaki to accept his affections until she began to return the gesture. "You're right!" he said with new resolve. "But how do I convince her to fall in love with me?" Takumi had asked this almost more to himself than to anyone else.

Just then the kitten hoped off his lap and walked to the kitchen. Standing in front of the cabinet that held her food, Dinner began meowing. "You're brilliant!" Takumi called to the kitten, "she does seem to like my cooking. I shall start by feeding her to win her over."

The kitten continued to stand in front of the cabinet crying for food. Her tone growing more demanding. Eventually, Takumi realized that perhaps she was hungry as well. He walked over and pulled out a bag of dry cat food and filled a bowl. The kitten walked over and smelled it. Takumi was setting down a bowl of water next to the food when the kitten scratched his hand. She walked back to the cabinet and again began to meow. Apparently, the dried food was not to her tastes. Takumi took out a can of wet food, opened it and served it. He then threw out the offensive dry food.

In addition to providing some sage advice, it seemed Takumi had also stumbled upon an important scientific discovery. He walked over to his computer and recorded, then submitted, his daily finding on human life. This entry would prove to be his most interesting discovery thus far. It was no surprise, therefore, that within a few hours Gerald called him.

"Takumi," Gerald said, "I'm calling about your report." Takumi did not respond, waiting for his brother to continue. "Humans are clearly the most innovative creatures on this planet and they have opposable thumbs. How can you claim they are not the dominate species?"

"Apparently, adorableness trumps innovation, intelligence and dexterity," Takumi replied quite certain of his findings. "I have been with this small helpless creature for less than 24 hours and find I have become its personal slave. I feed her, clean up after her, open doors whenever she asks and I even dispose of her feces. It seems I am helpless in giving into her every whim. She, with minimal direction, had trained me on what food I may serve her and I find myself driven to run to the nearest store to purchase toys, bedding, or any other item offered for sale that might please her. It is completely and entirely illogical."

Gerald considered Takumi's words. "Perhaps your medical condition has altered your judgement."

"No Gerald," Takumi explained, "it seems that love is nothing more than a feeling. It does not seem to be a legitimate illness. I swear, these fluffy kittens and puppies are simply the masterminds on this planet. They allow the humans to believe that mankind is in charge but really they are using them to serve as their personal slaves."

Gerald felt dejected. He had asked Claire to prepare a paper on the virulent love strain caused by the bite of an elusive earth bug (Plecia nearctica). The paper had just been accepted by three prestigious publications on three various solar systems and Gerald had already booked his flight to the resort planet of Risa to sit on a guest panel to discuss his findings. There was a three year waiting list to visit Risa if you weren't given an invitation. "You sure about the love thing not being an illness?" Gerald asked.

"Yes," Takumi answered, "but I think this thing about the pets is an even bigger discovery."

Gerald thought for a minute. "What would you think if we found a few different types of flies and had them bite you, or maybe hired a company to locate that baby Cupid and paid him to shoot an arrow at you… just to be sure… I mean, in the interest of science, we really should test it out before we decide it's not an actual illness."

"Are you asking me to be your guinea pig?" Takumi asked in disgust.

"Do you think it's possible that if you do contract love it could physically change you into a pig?" Gerald asked excitedly. If that was possible, he could probably get invitations to several more resort planets! "Because, that would be marvelous!... for science and all."

"No." Takumi said, "No. You may not do experiments on me. But I swear to you, I'm on to something with this pet thing. I think it's specific to dogs and cats." Gerald seemed unconvinced. After they hung up, Takumi ordered a puppy to be delivered to Gerald's office the next day. Once his brother discovered the manipulative powers of cuteness first hand, he would be sure to become a believer. Plus, Takumi was quite pleased to learn puppies were more difficult to potty train than kittens. He loved the idea that, tomorrow, his brother would become slave to a creature that would defecate all over his immaculate high rise apartment and that within a week, he would be thanking him for this honor.

Gamma-Rae-star: I loved your suggestion about publishing their research and had been looking for a spot to slip it in. Thanks for suggesting it and for providing a Latin name for the 'love bug' which must be the dangerous parasite causing that awful love condition. In fact, I think I prefer to think of them this way than to think about them in their actual form – two flies stuck together… ick!


	16. Chapter 15

Misaki was sitting in the Student Council Office when the most heavenly smell drifted into the room. Her nose picked up the scent and her mouth began to water. She looked longingly toward the source of the smell and within seconds Takumi stood in front of her carrying a container of egg drop soup and a plate of rice omelette. "I brought you some breakfast," Takumi said hoping she hadn't yet eaten. He was in luck.

"I am starving," Misaki said gratefully, "the Principal told me a new student was starting today and I came in early to meet him and show him around. I hadn't had time to eat." She took a bite of the omelette savoring the taste. "Thank you!"

As she was taking her second bite, a tall handsome boy with brown eyes came into the office. He had been close enough to the office to catch the last bit of Misaki's words and his heart felt light as he was sure he recognized that voice. "Hello, I'm new here. My name is Hinata Shintani," the boy said and he looked very carefully at Misaki. "You are the Misaki I remember!" he said smiling. The smile brought out his rugged good looks. He pulled a bouquet of assorted flowers from behind his back. "I hoped it would be you," he said smiling, "we went to grade school together and I brought these flowers for you hoping that we might run into each other today."

Takumi was no expert at understanding human interactions, but Misaki's blush and her smile made him suspect that this Hinata was attempting to curry favor with his Misaki. He scoffed at the silly display of flowers. "Are you suggesting Misaki smells, or are you telling her that you don't believe in showers?" he asked by means of pointing out the ridiculous gesture this boy had made. Hinata and Misaki stared at him annoyed and confused, so he continued. "Bouquets, like the one you just presented to Misaki, were carried by brides originally to help mask the pungent body odors present at weddings. At funerals, flowers were used to cover the smell of decomposing flesh. So, did you give her the flowers because you think of Misaki as the corpse or the bride?"

Hinata responded with, "I gave them to her as a romantic gesture. We were once… very close…. I've been waiting to come back to her."

Takumi's eyes narrowed. "So your notion of a romantic gesture is to cut off all the sexual organs of a defenseless plant, tie them together and then hand them to a lady so she can watch them wither and die?"

Hinata decided he did not like this fellow. If Takumi was going to attempt to discredit Hinata's gift, Hinata would return the favor. He had heard Misaki thank the boy for the food so he guessed that this annoying blond had brought it for her. Hinata had grown up on a farm so he knew a thing or two about some of those ingredients. "I suppose I think flowers are a better choice of gift for a lady than eggs since, not only do eggs come out of the same place as the hen's poop, the farmer most likely went and collected those eggs while the hens were sleeping because otherwise the hens would be upset to find he went and stole their unborn chicks so you could make breakfast."

Misaki frowned. She'd been so flattered to have been given two gifts this morning, but now her flowers didn't seem so pretty and she had lost her desire to eat eggs. Why was it some girls had guys trying to one up each other to impress the girl, but she had two guys trying to slam each other's gestures instead. That was kind of less fun. She went to throw the food out.

"Wait!" Hinata called, "you don't want to eat that no more?"

"Well," said Misaki weighing what Hintana had said about where eggs emerge from and the risk of hurting Takumi's feelings, "I ate two bites and it was very filling." She tried to stifle her tummy rumbling. It had been so good too!

"Great!" Hinata said taking the plate and shoveling the food into his mouth. "I was a bit hungry myself," he said between bites.

Takumi looked like he was ready to choke Hinata. What was it he'd read about human's beliefs regarding aliens…. Oh right. They believed that aliens would abduct and dissect random victims. Right now, Takumi was wishing that were true. For a fleeting moment he wondered if he could convince Gerald the knowledge gained by one such victim would outweigh the moral wrongs caused by the act.

Oh goodie goodie gum drops! Four reviews in one day and two of you (c.c. and melody21) I hadn't known were even reading before! It makes me think maybe it's not just my loved ones sneaking on after I fall asleep from a bunch of random IPNs and clicking on my story to try to give me an ego boost…

So a while back when I started this story I also started another story called 'Second Chances'. The idea was I read a bunch of stories and decided to try something different from the standard romance since there were many stories already in that vein for this fandom. So the other story I wrote was more dark and kinda a tragedy while this one was more a comedy. It was hard switching between the two styles so I waited to see which was more popular to decide which to finish first. The other one had (and will probably always have) more views, and early on had more likes, followers and comments, but then it started to get darker and was… hummm… not really well received (especially the end). Now, at half the length of the other finished story, this one is only two behind in favorites and tied on follows. Sure it has fewer reviews, but based on relative lengths this has more reviews per word. Plus the reviews for this story are pretty positive and it was more of a mixed bag on the other. So I learned a couple of things. People don't like downer stories – or at least they want HEA endings. Straight romance stories probably have a wider appeal. But people that are willing to try or happen to like comedies (even with a far fetched premise) are more committed to sticking with the story. So if I do a third story once this ones done – what should I try? I want to see if I can become as successful as some of you guys (WhiteAngle83 and MissKireiUchiha… I'm looking at you).


	17. More romantic than silly 16

Takumi walked up to the roof of the school building. He needed a quiet place to think. He felt overwhelmed by the tasks at hand. He had to figure out how to soften Misaki's attitude toward intergalactic beings; make her fall madly in love with him so that when he revealed his secret she would be accepting; and now he also had this Hinata fellow to deal with. Takumi hated to leave Misaki alone with that… that insufferable fool… but he had an idea on a way to get the ball rolling in the right direction and he would need to use his lunch period to set things up. He called up Satsuki at the café and asked for her help.

That day during lunch, Misaki was surprised to find that Takumi was not around. Much to her chagrin, it seemed as if Hinata had taken up his role as her own personal stalker. It wasn't that she disliked Hinata, but he was more intrusive and vocal than Takumi. Further, Takumi was less prone to begging for food. Takumi had swiped an occasional lollipop from her desk in the Student Council office but that was it. Oddly, he generally managed to take whichever one she was in the process of consuming. But Hinata was a whole different story. After eating the breakfast Takumi had made for her, Hinata had followed her to the vending machines in between periods and then borrowed all her money to buy himself snacks, leaving her with no money for her own snacks. At lunch, he look positively pathetic after he'd finished his lunch and noticed she had just started on her own. Misaki was starving but felt like eating in front of him was like eating in front of a starving puppy dog. It had been too much to bare. She'd given him her lunch as well.

Takumi had also proved to be a more helpful stalker. For example, Misaki wasn't exactly clumsy but by having Takumi around, she had subconsciously grown to expect someone to swoop in and break her fall should she stumble, or grab her files if they happened to topple toward the floor. Hinata didn't seem to be aware of such official stalker duties. Being that Misaki was Student Body President her mood could have wide reaching consequences. By the end of lunch, she was sore and hangry and her mood was impacting the rest of the student body. Students were speculating that the lack of her normal side-kick could be reason behind her foul mood. It was for this reason that, when Takumi Usui entered the school grounds, he received a round of applause as he walked down the school halls toward Misaki. Both he and Misaki were headed for Science.

"I brought you a little something," Takumi said handing her a bag. She looked annoyed but opened the bag. Inside were moon cakes. Her eyes widened and she quickly closed the bag before scanning the immediate area for Hinata. Takumi was confused by her reaction, "do you not like moon…". He couldn't finish the sentence. She'd thrown a hand over his mouth before grabbing him and dragging him off the the Student Council Offices. There she closed and locked the door; made sure all windows were locked; then she pulled down the classroom shades. Then she opened the bag and began stuffing the moon cakes into her mouth while mumbling something indistinguishable.

Takumi looked amused but waited patiently to seek further clarification on her odd behavior. After finishing the last cake and licking her fingers for any crumbs Misaki repeated herself aware that Takumi hadn't understood her words the first time around. "Hinata has eaten everything I touch. I am starving. I'm so glad he'd gone off to the bathroom when you arrived with these or he'd try to eat these too."

Takumi was feeling a bit of relief. It was sounding like maybe that Hinata problem would resolve itself without too much intervention on his part. "Well," Takumi said with a smirk, "you know you always have an emergency supply of these…" he walked over and motioned to the dish of lollipops sitting in the corner of her desk.

"Oh my God! How did I forget about those?" Misaki practically ran to the desk, ripped the paper off of one of the confections and popped it in her mouth. She savored the calories. She took to candy out of her mouth and closed her eyes feeling the surge of energy caused by the increase in her blood sugar. While her eyes were closed, Takumi snatched the lollipop out of her hand and popped it into his own mouth. Misaki opened her eyes and looked at her empty hand incredulously and then turned an angry eye on the boy sucking on her lollipop who was gleefully smiling next to her.

"Oh," Takumi said with feigned innocence, "were you still eating this? I'm sorry." There was no way he would be giving up a piece of candy that Misaki had put in her mouth and wrapped her tongue around. But he also didn't want to make her go hungry or angry. He reached into his bag and pulled out an energy bar. "Can we call it a fair trade?" he asked, the lollipop still safely in his mouth. "If this still isn't enough, I could be persuaded to throw in a kiss," he said raising an eyebrow.

"The bar will do," she said grabbing it out of his hand and ripping off the wrapper. 'Oh Well,' Takumi thought, 'it was worth a try.' As Misaki stuffed the bar into her mouth, Takumi walked toward the door. They needed to get to Science. They were covering a topic today that he didn't want Misaki to miss. He unlocked the door to find Hinata standing at the entrance ready to knock. Both boys looked rather surprised.

"It's you," Hinata said in shock, "have you seen Mis…". Mid-sentence Hinata saw her over Takumi's shoulder. More importantly, Hinata saw a gleaming foil wrapper. "I thought I smelled some food, I'm just starving," he said looking at the object in Misaki's hand with a bit of drool on the edge of his lip.

"Sorry Hinata," Misaki said, "I just finished the last of it. This is just the wrapper." Hinata looked crestfallen but then noticed the small stick in Takumi's mouth and a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes. Before he could utter a word, Takumi's look of disdain shut him up.

"We need to get to class," Takumi said to Misaki. The pair left and arrived at class just before the bell rang.

"Today we will be watching a video called 'Space Discoveries: Life on Other Planets'," the teacher announced as everyone took their seats. "The film was produced in the United States by an organization called NASA, which is a government funded agency that does research on space." Misaki suspected Takumi knew what they would be doing in class today and wondered if this was why he'd brought the 'moon cakes'. She looked back to find the blond sitting in the back of the class smiling at her. "Can someone get the lights," the teacher continued.

The lights went out and the video started. A few minutes into the documentary one of the students turned to look at the clock on the wall behind Takumi. "Holy Shit! He's glowing!" the Student said pointing at Takumi. All eyes in the class room narrowed in. Sure enough, Takumi was covered in little speckles that were glowing a dull white.

Takumi cursed internally, 'Gerald is going to kill me. How could I be so careless and draw all this attention upon myself?' The teacher smacked a ruler against her desk and all eyes were back to the front. "Might I remind you, we are in class. MY class. Now I will restart the video and I expect you to all pay attention. Mr. Usui, in the future, I ask that you refrain from any further pranks that cause such a disruption."

After class, Misaki cornered Takumi to ask why and how he was glowing in class. "I'll tell you on one condition," he promised. "Your shift at the café doesn't start until after dinner. I want you to come with me to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan after school. I've book the facility for star gazing and I've packed us a picnic lunch." Misaki seemed to be considering it. "Think of it like studying. This will help you…." He stopped for the briefest of seconds remembering that incident back at his apartment. She would not like the implication that she needed help with science but he didn't, "I mean… us …with our finals in astronomy. Besides, there's something special I want to show you."

"Did you make the picnic lunch?" she asked after a few seconds.

Should he lie? He was still pretty insecure about his cooking skills, but she did seem to like his food so maybe he was safe admitting it… "yes," he finally admitted hoping this wouldn't drive her away.

"Okay then," she said, "I'll go."

After school, the pair met out front where Takumi had a car waiting. When they arrived at the observatory, the guard welcomed Takumi by name. When they went inside, the 20 inch telescope was already set to a specific location. "You won't be able to see it with this telescope, but using mathematical probability algorithms, I determined that there was a strong possibility of an inhabitable planet located just over 4.5 light years away in that direction. This afternoon at lunch, I gave researchers here and in America the coordinates of where I expected the planet to be. They then directed their space telescopes toward that point and while we can't confirm whether or not there is life, we could get confirmation of a new planet that is within the habitable range of its star. Because of my contributions in finding it, I was able to name the planet. So if you look through this telescope, you will see those stars that you would pass as you travel to the planet that was most recently discovered."

Misaki was impressed. It took professional astronomers years to locate any planet much less one that could support life. How did this guy do it? And to find it over a lunch period? "So what did you name it?" She asked.

Takumi smiled as he showed her how to look through the telescope, "When I think of home, it's your name that comes to mind. I thought, if that planet turns out to be inhabited, wouldn't it be nice for all the creatures living there to get to call their home 'Misaki'."

She turned and looked at him. "You named a planet after me?" He nodded and she blushed. Takumi felt victorious. He thought back to this morning's encounter with Hinata. 'I just gave the girl a world. Try to top that one, flower boy,' he thought.

"So with this telescope you can get a decent view of some of the planets in our own solar system. Do you want to see Venus? Right now, it is visible even in daylight," Takumi asked as he reached around her to adjust the telescope. "I'm sure you know that just like the new planet, Venus was named after a Goddess of beauty. But do you know why they named the planet near her Mars?" Misaki shook her head. She decided that Takumi's study of romance had definitely started to pay off. "Well," Takumi continued, "Venus was married to Vulcan the God of Fire. But she fell in love with Mars the God of War. The planets Mars and Venus can be seen moving across our sky even without a telescope. Early astronomers watched the love sick planets chase each other during our nights and decided to name them after the wandering lovers of mythology. If I ever discover that the planet Misaki has a moon, I will name it after myself so Takumi can forever have the pleasure of circling around the beautiful Misaki." Takumi finally had the telescope lined up. "Ahhh… there it is. Venus." He again helped her line up so she could see it.

They spent the next hour looking at various stars and talking about the possibility of life outside of Earth. Then they went outside to enjoy their picnic on the grounds while they watched the sun set. "Next time we come back here," Misaki said, "we should come at night so we can really get a good view of the stars." Takumi nodded. He was so glad to see her growing excited about the Universe. Also, she'd said there would be a next time. The thoughts couldn't help but bring a smile to his heart. "So that was a very cool surprise… the new planet I mean. But you promised that if I came here with you, you would tell me why you were glowing."

"Right," Takumi had forgotten about that. Once the sun set, he suspected he'd be glowing yet again. "I will tell you as soon as you're done with work."

Misaki looked as though she'd been tricked. "But I'm closing tonight and you said you'd tell me."

"I will tell you and I never said I'd tell you instantly. And I already know you're closing. I'm going to run home and shower but I will be back before the café closes and I will help you clean up and walk you home so you can get home safely at a reasonable time. You will find out then." She could tell by his look that this was not negotiable.

Closing time was approaching, and Misaki was surprised to find herself a bit disappointed that Takumi hadn't yet arrived. She had finally admitted to herself that she had grown rather fond of the boy. Of course, she'd never admit this out loud, but it did feel like something was missing when he wasn't there. About 10 minutes before closing, he arrived. He sat down and ordered a tea, which he sipped until it was time to close. Sure enough, with Takumi's help, Misaki was able to finish all the tasks needed in a fraction of the normal amount of time.

As she locked the front door to the café and was carrying the trash toward the back door she again asked Takumi, "so are you going to tell me why you were glowing before?"

He chuckled. "Yes. But first look up." She looked up at the ceiling of the café where she saw thousands of little dots in different sizes, all glowing.

"What… what is that?" She asked.

"If you were on the planet of Misaki, this is what the night sky would look like," a Takumi explained. "It is an exact map of the constellations as seen this time of year from the northern hemisphere of that planet."

"Takumi… that's amazing. How did you do that," she was in awe. It was beautiful.

"Well I used glow in the dark paint… which is why I was glowing after lunch and needed to shower before meeting you here," he said with a laugh. "Don't worry… I got permission to paint this on the ceiling."

"Do you mean to tell me that over the course of a single lunch, you found a new planet, figured out how the stars would look from that location and painted it on this ceiling?" Misaki asked in shock, "how did you do that?"

"They say that love can allow you to move heaven and Earth," Takumi said. "Finding a planet and putting a little paint on the ceiling during a lunch break should be a piece of cake." He pulled a little star shaped wooden puzzle box from his pocket. "I know you can't wear a planet around your neck," he said while handing her the box, "so I bought this for you so you'll always know where to find your planet." Misaki looked at the intricate design inlaid in the wood and after a few tries figured out how to open the box. Inside she found a beautiful pendant. It was a light amethyst sphere surrounded by a silver band with some numbers engraved upon it. "That is what I believe your planet would look like, and the coordinates for the planet are engraved around the outer ring."

"It's beautiful," she said looking down at the necklace and then looking back up at the ceiling. Misaki couldn't help it… her heart began to flutter.

"Hummm…" Takumi said looking at the ceiling. "But it certainly is a flawed planet."

"Why?!" Misaki asked. Somehow she had started to feel attached to this distant place. She had an image of a happy paradise and couldn't believe he was criticizing her little planet.

"Well, its missing you," Takumi explained. "You know, Misaki, there is a theory that tries to explain quantum mechanics by saying there are multiple independent universes that are all similar but different choices are made in each system. If that were true and there is a second Takumi out there, I am certain he would continue to search his universe until he found his Misaki. That is one choice that would never change for me." He walked over and wrapped her in his arms. "If I lived on that planet, I know absolutely that I would travel the 4.5 light years away to find you." With that he placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head and she found herself defenseless to do anything about it. Instead she just stood there, enjoying his warmth.


	18. Chapter 17

After dropping Misaki off at her home, Takumi started to channel his inner Gene Kelly. At least the Gene Kelly that had starred in Singing in the Rain. He couldn't decide if he wanted to dance or skip, sing or laugh. He felt bliss. He had to stay focused to make sure he didn't start floating home. Literally. Sure, he wasn't supposed to be able to do that but, hey, the way he was feeling at the moment he was pretty sure just about anything was possible.

Suddenly, Takumi was jolted from his internal revelry by the buzzing of his phone. He retrieved the device from his pocket to see that he'd missed a call. 'No problem', he thought, he had a voice mail. Once he clicked on his voice mail icon, he discovered he was mistaken… he did not have a voice mail. He had several! And as he looked at the number he realized they were all from the same person. Gerald. Shit!

Takumi's mind began turning. How had Gerald known? He shouldn't have been able to find out for at least a week. What should he say? What he'd done wasn't that bad right? Okay, okay…. Giving away the coordinates for his home planet… revealing its location… well yes, technically that would be treason. Treason against his entire planet…not just his country… but… oh God! That sounded so much worse when he had to put words to it. But…but…but…It wasn't like the Earthlings could get there. Heck, they didn't even have equipment powerful enough to be able to see much of anything other than the tiny dot of a planet. And it was done for a good cause! All is fair in love and humiliating Hinata, right? Okay, maybe it wouldn't help his case if he pointed out he had done it for love. Gerald wouldn't be so supportive of him forming a relationship with a human. In fact, that might just make the situation worse! Ugh!

Damn. The phone was ringing AGAIN! Will it away. Will it away. It wasn't working! Why was the phone being so insistent? Why didn't it stop ringing when he hoped it would. Takumi swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and answered.

"Hello?" Takumi said weakly.

"Takumi," Gerald said. "I arrived at work 4 hours ago only to discovered your little…. Stunt." There was a noticeable pause. Takumi needed a few more minutes to think of what to say.

"Uh, hey Gerald," he lied, "I really can't make out what you're saying. I'll need to call you back once I have better reception." And with that he hung up. He wouldn't be able to stall him for more than 30 minutes. He needed a game plan and he needed it quickly. He decided to check the voice mail messages to see exactly how much his brother knew and try to determine what types of consequences he might be facing. The first step in developing any plan is research right?

In the first message, Gerald's voice was laced with rage. "What the hell is this about Takumi? I know you're behind this. This little ball of fur has chewed up my antique desk! That desk was used by Shakespeare when he wrote Hamlet! There is a pile of… of… of shit on the rug I imported from India! It was owned by Srinivasa Ramanujan. Guess what is all over my couch? Hummm? Yes, the couch I bought from Babe Ruth's estate two weeks ago? Yes… FUR! You had better hope you have a good explanation."

The next message arrived an hour or so after the first. Gerald's voice sounded annoyed but surprisingly less angry. "This… animal… will not remove itself from my lap. Please call me back and explain what I'm supposed to do about this… mammal."

The third message came 15 minutes later. "My dog seems to be hungry. It keeps licking me and staring at me. What do these… what do puppies eat?"

The fourth message came about an hour later. In this message there was a touch of mirth in Gerald's voice, "Takumi? I found Melody some food. No thanks to you I might add. I am not quite sure if she's broken though. She keeps swinging her tail back and forth. Do you think she is trying to sweep my floor for me? She needn't really. I mean it's a nice gesture, but I have people for that. Anyway, call me. I'd like to know if she's okay."

The fifth message came about 20 minutes later. "So. Where exactly did Melody come from? It's just not practical to have her sitting on my lap all day trying to drag me off on walks and such. I'm afraid she will need her own office, next to mine of course, and I suppose I will need to hire someone to sit with her to tend to her needs when I'm unavailable. But, I know she might get lonely while I am away. She looked at me and her eyes… well, they pierced my sole and screamed 'don't leave me.' She won't care for anyone else watching her but me. So, I've decided I need to buy another one to keep her company."

Takumi had one final voice mail to get through… 'please,' he begged 'just don't let it be about the planet!' It seems that some beings are born under a lucky star and that Takumi was one of those beings. In the final voice mail message, Gerald sounded a bit panicked. "Takumi, you haven't gotten back to me all day! Melody needs her sister, Harmony. I can tell by the way she seems to sigh that she fears Harmony might be sold to another buyer. To tear my angle from her dear sister Harmony is just unconscionable! How could you think of sending me this puppy but not the rest of her litter? Time is of the essence. I must reach the breeder before any of Melody's siblings are displaced. Call me back immediately."

Takumi smiled. He called his brother back, happy to talk.


	19. More drama than silly 18

Takumi's high spirits were back and his voice was light when he reached his brother. "Hey Gerald buddy, what's up? You had some questions about your new puppy?"

"Hummmm…." Gerald did not sound particularly happy, " 'had' is the operative word. In fact, I believe I called several times, left you several messages, and even sent you emails. When you failed to respond, I decided to contact the school's student body president. She had promised she'd keep an eye on you for me." Gerald had intended to go on, but Takumi interrupted at this point.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "She's working for you? You're paying her to 'keep an eye on me'?"

Gerald was irked. He could hardly understand what this had to do with anything. How very like Takumi… running off on some stupid little tangent derailing his entire soliloquy. "No. I'm not paying her. She sees it as her job as student body president to keep tabs on the students. I simply asked she keep me informed about you. But that hardly matters. What does matter…". Takumi again interpreted.

"Did she say that she is hanging out with me because it's her duty?"

"I can't recall. I believe she said it was her responsibility to look after you as you were one of the students… but truly, that really isn't important. What is important…". He probably continued but, if he did, Takumi hadn't heard him. Takumi's world had faded into a dull, spinning whirl filled with mumbles and void of color. He couldn't help but remember how Misaki had spent the whole day with that Hinata and how much she'd seemed to dislike it. Yet she didn't leave his side even after he'd eaten her breakfast, snack and lunch. And she tried to appear to enjoy Hinata's company when that idiot was by her side. Maybe that was also all she was doing when they were spending time together. She had never really initiated any sort of intimacy and quite often she had rebuffed his advances. There had been the mating ritual dance she had learned… but that dance was quite similar to his tribal war dance. Was it possible she just got the some of the steps wrong and he'd misinterpreted? Maybe she hadn't been declaring her love at all. Had he imagined this whole thing? Did she feel anything for him at all? His heart sank, his mind filled with darkness. He began to understand why they said love can crush your heart. Oh how it hurt!

Takumi's mind continued to wander going deeper and deeper into a dark place until Gerald said a word that drew him back to reality. "What did you say?" Takumi demanded.

"Misaki! I said I cannot believe you told these stupid humans to call our home planet 'Misaki'! You know perfectly well that there was a multi national vote and the name Pheromone was chosen. Why would you do that?"

Takumi's mind shifted gears. Gerald knew? About the whole treason thing? Oh God! What had he just asked again? Right, right… the name… "Well, I thought it better not to tell them the true name," Takumi explained, "you know if we ever do have a formal introduction that would seem too specific to be considered a coincidence. Besides, the locals never have the same name for their homeland as the foreigners. Take Finland and Suomi."

"Hummm…" Gerald responded, "you are right. At least you did think of that. But Takumi, this is a serious issue! It may well be a crime. At the very least, it is a serious breach of ethics and you will need to be dismissed from this mission. In fact, I am on my way now to collect you and send you back home to face the consequences of your actions. You have about 30 minutes. Use it to you make your excuses to any humans that might notice your disappearance so we can minimize any further problems here. Be smart about this. Don't make the situation worse. Tell them you are flying home to England for an unspecified amount of time. A family emergency or something. I don't know if you will be permitted to return here again. In fact, you may have your passport permanently revoked."

Takumi knew his brother was right. Why bother to confess his true nature to Misaki. He couldn't even be sure she cared about him anymore. Even if she did, his future was, at best, uncertain and such a confession would be just as bad if not worse than what he had already done. These humans were still looking for the Sasquatch that was dumb enough to reveal the truth. He couldn't risk that same exposure for his race. Besides, he may never be allowed back to Earth and if he was allowed to return… well, who knew when he might be back. Even if he could eventually come back, it seemed like when ever he let his guard down, some guy would be looking her way like she was a tall glass of ice water in the middle of the Sahara Desert. What were the chances she would still be single when he got back. He did need to tell her he was leaving but that was all. After all, he though bitterly, it was her responsibility to monitor the students at Seika High. She might not care about him, but she obviously felt responsible for him. She'd ask questions if he didn't say goodbye… same as she would with any of their classmates. If his pride wasn't standing in his way, he would have acknowledged that he needed to say goodbye, not for her sake, but for his own.

He stood at the door of her home and rung the bell. The walk back to her place had done him some good. He'd stopped caring that she may not have any feelings for him. He knew that this could well be it. The last time he ever saw her, maybe even the last time he would ever have a normal conversation in his life. It was entirely possible he'd be sentenced to solitary confinement or even death. These moments… they needed to count.

He was going to use this time to memorize every line of her face. Maybe she didn't have horns, a tail or those extra arms, but he had grown to think she was perhaps the most perfect creature ever created. If he was going off to spend his remaining years alone and he could remember every detail of her face, her body, well… at least he could talk to her in his dreams. And… Her voice. He'd need to listen to that sound carefully… committing the pitch and tone to memory. And her smell. It had become his new definition of home, comfort, safety. He couldn't lose the memory of that smell. His heart grew heavier with every step he'd taken toward her house. He knew without a doubt that this visit… he was doing it, coming here, that is, for himself. He also knew that even if she would hate him forever, he needed just one last time to enjoy her taste.

The door opened and there she was standing before him. He looked up and felt something wet on his cheeks. He was puzzled. There wasn't any rain. His fingers reached up and traced the path of the wet only to discover it was coming from his eyes. Just as well he was leaving, he thought, his body was already malfunctioning.

"Takumi," Misaki said with a worried expression, "you're crying!" He looked at her confused. He'd read about that term in some of those books she'd suggested. Was that what was wrong with his eyes? It wasn't half as uncomfortable as he'd imagined.

"Oh," he said smiling half-heartedly, "that's a first. Sorry about that. I am not sure why that is happening."

Misaki frowned and stepped closer to Takumi. She was not what one would call an affectionate person. In fact, physical contact made her down right uncomfortable most of the time, but he seemed so alone, so lost, so in need of a hug. She couldn't help herself. It seemed like the right thing to do. She circled her arms around him and felt his body relax into hers. Rather than making the tears go away, her actions caused him to begin to shake and his tears escalated into full blown sobs. Misaki waited patiently but she had always been a firm believer in facing your problems head on. She was willing to comfort him, but anything causing him this amount of upset probably also required some action. He needed to face it and come up with a game plan and she didn't have all night for him to finally come around to it. "Takumi,"she asked, "what is wrong?"

"I need to leave," he managed to choke out. "I have to go back to… England. I may never come back." Misaki took a sharp breath in. She hadn't expected that. More importantly, she hadn't expected to feel the way she did. It was as if a knife was plunged into her heart. It felt worse than the day she'd discovered her father had abandoned her family. Her mind raced to figure out why his words had this impact. All she could think of seemed impossible. Or was it? Could she actually be in love with Takumi Usui? Why? Why did he need to go? Suddenly she was feeling the same series of emotions the boy she held was feeling. Regret, sadness, fear, passion, and above all else… love.

Takumi smelled her hair. It was like fresh hey mixed with the scent of her favorite shampoo. He felt her slight body beneath his arms. He willed his hands to move to her arms so he could feel her smooth silky skin. He needed to memorize these sensations, these small details. After touching her skin, his fingers moved to her hair. He stepped back slightly so his eyes could soak in her face, her expressions, her everything. He should say more. He should add details to make his departure seem less bizarre, but right now he felt selfish. He didn't care about the mission or his planet, he cared about her. He needed to use this precious little time to remember her. Memorize her. He heard his voice, almost inaudible, saying "I love you." It was like a dream. He hadn't consciously meant to say it and he didn't even intend to say it. It was as if his mouth and mind were acting on their own. But speaking was not their only act of self sufficiency. Before he knew what he was doing, his lips were on hers and every thought, every emotion melted away and all he could feel was a sense of completeness. She wasn't fighting him as she had in the past. She was kissing him back. And he was certain that they were meant for each other. It was no coincidence that he had come to this planet, to this city, to that school. This was his destiny. She was his past, present and future.

Misaki stood on her porch and was feeling a similar mix of emotions. For her, his words kept playing through her mind. He loves me. How had she been so blind? Why had she waited so long? She loved him too. It was no longer a question. No longer an impossibility. It was as much a truth as life. A type of truth that is known as soon as you are born. It isn't necessary for anyone to tell you for you to know it is so. There are no classes to teach you that it is a truth. It is simply something you feel immediately and know without question to be real and unchangeable. It was so basic, so evident, so obvious. How could she have possibly have missed it? She felt like an idiot for being so clueless but her mouth, her mind, her body felt so right as she enjoyed that kiss. And then it ended. He'd released her. And she opened her eyes to see the sad happy face of Takumi looking back at her with a serious level of concentration in his eyes.

"Why?" she stammered, "why are you leaving?" He stopped studying her for a moment. He broke eye contact. He needed to lie and it just didn't feel right.

"I… I need to deal with a family crisis," he was trying to be as honest as he could without revealing his secret. "Someone dear to me is in some trouble, and I am not sure when I can come back." Misaki listened. Clearly something serious was happening but he was being a bit melodramatic. Hadn't he mentioned early he might never come back? That seemed a bit over the top.

She smiled at him. "You'll be back," she said, "you wouldn't go and make me fall in love with you and then just leave me would you?"

Takumi's eyes returned to hers. Had she just said what he thought she'd said? Was it possible she was in love with him as well? He took her hand just as Gerald stepped out of the limo.

"Takumi," Gerald called from the street, "time to go!"

The color drained from Takumi's face. He shifted back to Misaki one last time. "I will love you, and only you, forever," he said as he dropped her hand and ran to the limo. Misaki stood and watched as the car drove away. She didn't know what to think.


	20. Chapter 19 - back to silly

Chapter 19

Gerald had sent word to the International Decisions - Individuals of Terrestrial Systems (Idiots), to inform them that he and Takumi were returning home. He further explained, in the correspondence, the circumstances of their return. The Idiots was a 6 member board that adjudicated matters involving Pheromone citizens if the relevant events occurred outside of Pheromone's solar system. Gerald's message had been recorded by one of the Idiots' secretaries and would be raised once the full board convened later that day, but one of the board members, Charlie, happened to overhear the secretary as she transcribed the message.

Charlie entered the Idiots board room. He noticed he was the third member to arrive for the day. "Good Morning Art and Bob," he said cheerfully. He was excited to tell them of the news he'd just overheard but it was clear that Art was in the middle of a story. Both men looked up at Charlie and greeted him warmly.

"Charlie," Art said after the initial pleasantries were made, "I was just telling Bob the most delightful story. You remember the annual conference I attend on Risa each year don't you?" Charlie nodded. It was a very well known conference and even if it hadn't been, it was on Risa! "Well," Art continued, "as you probably remember, each year they invite one guest speaker strictly for entertainment purposes. This year, they invited…" he paused for dramatic affect "Gerald Walker!" Bob and Charlie both chuckled. "Unfortunately, someone informed him that his 'scientific discovery' was not in fact accurate so now they are searching for another fool to replace him."

"So what paper was he trying to present?" Bob asked.

Art's eyes twinkled with delight. This was the best part. "It was called," Art said again pausing, knowing that the next words out of his mouth would likely result in unabashed laughter, "The Virulent Love Strain Caused by the Bite of an Elusive Earth Bug (Plecia nearctica)." At first there was a few seconds of silence which was followed by explosive bursts of laughter from all three men.

"You can't possibly mean he hadn't heard of love previously," Charlie asked as he gasped for air and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"No!" Art responded, "truly he hadn't! He seemed to think it was an illness." This revelation incited a renewed bout of laughter throughout the room. On Pheromone, love was not an emotion widely known or encouraged. Relationships were based on mutual respect, fondness and lust. Strong emotions such as love could interfere with logical thinking. But the advanced civilizations of Pheromone, had visited countless other solar systems and planets. The concept of love had been discovered and explored more than a century earlier and some Pheromonians, mind you only the unsavory sort, had even allowed their minds to be corrupted by this emotion.

"And he thought it was spread by something called a love bug?" Bob asked.

Art was too far engulfed in his laughter to speak so he simply nodded his head in response. A few minutes later the laughter had died down and the men were able to compose themselves. Charlie looked at the other two and asked, "should we bring this up with Dan?"

Dan was the fourth member of the board and by far the most serious member. He was the predictable sort and the other five members of the board enjoyed using this quality to add a little fun to their day. Right now, they had an office pool related to Gerald Walker. In fact they had had an office pool related to Gerald Walker for the past two years. It had all started because Gerald Walker was a thorn in Dan's side. The Walker family was rich, powerful and famous. Not just on Pheromone, but throughout the Universe. The family ran the Walker Corporation and the head of the family was indisputably Richard Walker. Richard was a cantankerous old man, but what really got under Dan's skin was that he was also naïve, self centered, ignorant and selfish. Even though Richard's ideas were idiotic, and could even be said to border on dangerous, every branch of the government was forced to hear him out and try to appease his whims due to his fortune and influence. Fortunately Richard was also very near retirement, and, two years prior, he'd announced rather publicly that Gerald, his grandson, would be his replacement.

After that announcement, Dan, like almost every other person on the planet, was quite curious to learn more about Gerald. He had the misfortune to hear him speak at a local university. To Dan's disappointment and dismay, Gerald seemed to be a dumber carbon copy of his grandfather. Worse yet, Gerald began interfering in multiple branches of government attempting to make a name for himself and convince the world that he was taking on the role of Walker Corporation's CEO due to his skills and abilities as opposed to good old fashioned nepotism. Dan was not the only civil employee annoyed by this turn of events, but he was certainly one of the more vocal ones. He would grouse about Gerald Walker at least twice a month. It was then, that his co-workers thought of a game.

Each member of Idiots would chip in money at the start of the month. They would each select which day of the month they believed Dan would begin his tirade against Gerald Walker. At the end of the month, the employee that guessed closest to the correct date won the money collected for that month. This game remained amusing for a short while, but soon the tirades became a daily occurrence and the group needed to develop a new set of rules. The current game still required each participant to contribute money at the beginning of the month. Now, however, the object was to attempt to guess the highest number of adjectives Dan would use before he said Gerald Walker's full name. Bob liked to guess high, so he'd given Dan a word a day calendar the previous Christmas hoping that Dan might find some new insults to attach to the list he'd been cultivating over the years.

"An excellent idea Charlie!"Bob suggested. "The month is coming to close in a week and right now, Dan is falling short with my guess. I would love to prompt him to beat on this subject yet again."

Art looked annoyed. "Well I guessed 92 and he is right on the money currently! I'd hope Dan could just get sick and stay home this final week. I never manage to win."

Ed had been standing in the doorway and knew instantly what the group was discussing. "Art old boy," he said with a smile, "you always guess to low! You know Dan is focused on business during the first half the month but when we're down to a week, he really indulges his venom for that fool."

"Well," chimes in Art, "given that Mr. Walker has been sent off to that little planet Earth, the daily rants have been much less vigorous than normal. I suspect we may need to revisit the rules of our little game if Walker stays away much longer."

It was a perfect moment for Charlie to divulge his salacious information. "Well,"he said as a wicked smile crossed his face, "Gerald Walker is on a spaceship headed back here as we speak. It seems he will be in our very own court this afternoon."

Fred, the sixth and final member of the council was walking into the room and nearly dropped his coffee as he heard the words. Like every other member of the group he felt such a wide range of emotions. He was annoyed, because like Art he had factored Gerald's absence into his guesses for the office pool. More importantly, he was worried because their planet had started to run so much more efficiently and smoothly without Gerald Walker around. It had been a breath of fresh air sending that guy away. Now he was coming back to be the annoying, meddlesome, imbecile invading the daily work of everyone that was anyone. The room made a collective sigh as this reality rose to the conscious minds of all in the room.

Dan was the last to arrive for the morning. He sensed the cold vibe in the normally cordial board room. "My," Dan said hoping to break the ice, "I wonder if it is safe for me to ask what the topic of conversation is this fine morning." Bob smiled wide. He took out his tally counter. He wasn't going to miss a single adjective this time.

"The Walker boys are returning," Charlie explained, "one of them will be tried this afternoon for revealing our planet's location to the Earthlings." It was clear to all, that the brother that would have messed up was Gerald. The younger one was pretty amazing. If he hadn't been related to a Richard Walker, he would have been nominated for multiple appointments.

Dan looked about as red as a beet. "I knew we couldn't simply send that stupid, fumbling, self-centered, selfish, uneducated..." the room tuned out the actual words coming out of Dan's mouth as they all silently counted the enormous list of adjectives spewing from Dan's lips. The number was nearing 232… Bob had his fingers crossed. Silently he prayed that Dan would end with the full name so that no one could dispute his obvious win. 'moronic Gerald Walker off to Earth and be rid of our problems!" Dan finished in a huff.

"Yes!" Bob said gleefully doing a fist pump in the air. Dan looked at him with an icy stare that could have been used to define the term 'if looks could kill'. Dan cowered and mumbled, "Well at least he's being tried for something, right? Maybe we could use that to banish him from this solar system."

With that revelation, a new atmosphere of jovial excitement settled through out the entire room. Fred piped up that he was the one that had suggested they put that moron in charge of the Earth mission as he merely needed enough rope to hang himself. Ed came up with the idea of making Gerald live inside the pathetic Earth body he was currently using for the botched mission. In short, the entire morning was nearly shot in terms of getting any actual work done. The 6 Idiots sat around all morning, gleefully thinking of what other types of punishment they could impose on Gerald Walker.


	21. Chapter 20

Gerald and Takumi rode in the limo which was heading toward the space ship. Gerald held a tiny shih tzu on his lap stroking it gently as he looked out the window. Takumi decided to break the silence. "So this must be Melody?" he asked. Gerald nodded. He was rather disappointed in his brother and wasn't particularly in the mood for chit chat. "Where will she be staying while you're back home?" Takumi inquired.

Gerald suddenly looked stricken. He had assumed Melody would be traveling with him, but Takumi was correct. Melody wasn't designed to live on Pheromone. He really couldn't bring her back there until he could design and build some sort of body for her and since no one had ever brought an alien home to Pheromone, it was unclear if such a feat was even possible. Then Gerald remembered that Melody was still alone. He had been so taken by surprise by the recent turn of events he'd forgotten about finding Melody's siblings. He turned to Takumi, "I've already sent word we are on our way, but I really need to see about Melody's needs before we leave. Can you tell me where the rest of her family is living?"

The conversation reminded Takumi that he also hadn't made preparations for his own kitten. Apparently, it is really overwhelming to try to address all of the loose ends in your life when you are given a mere 30 minutes. "Of course Gerald," Takumi reassured his brother. "I bought her from a breeder just outside of town. I also remembered just now that I haven't made proper arrangements for my kitten. Would it be possible if we could pick her up and drop her off at Misaki's house before we depart."

Gerald was not always the most considerate person. He had a tendency to focus on how events would impact him. In addition, his natural inclination was to ignore the troubles and predicament of others. But Takumi was his brother and Gerald had recently discovered how strong a bond could be formed between Pheromonians and pets. He couldn't help but take pity on Takumi and his plight. "Fine," he said begrudgingly, "we will make sure your cat is taken care of after we secure Melody's siblings and arrange for appropriate care for my sweet little pumpkin poos." He lifted Melody to his face and tried to give her an Eskimo kiss as he finished speaking. Watching this uncomfortable display of affection between Gerald and Melody, Takumi began to wonder what sort of strange monster he had created, but he did recognize that Melody was making his older brother a bit kinder. Perhaps Gerald's attachment to his new pet had helped give him a frame of reference on how Takumi felt about Misaki. Of course the two feelings weren't the same… at least Takumi seriously hoped they weren't… but this feeling of wanting to look out for someone or something else, with no expectation of any personal benefit, was something neither of the Walker boys had experienced prior to arriving on a Earth.

Takumi provided Gerald with the address of the breeder and the brothers went there directly. When they arrived, there were only two puppies left. Upon hearing Gerald's anguished pleas to reunite all of the puppy siblings, the breeder told the pair that it had been an unusually small litter of just three and that these two remaining puppies were the last of Melody's siblings. Takumi suspected that this was a falsehood the breeder employed to pacify Gerald but he didn't question her because he also thought Gerald's limit should be three. Takumi knew that he would be unable to carry more than three dogs at one time and Gerald always found a way to make Takumi carry his belongings. Takumi assumed puppies would be no different.

The new female puppy was, of course, named Harmony, and the boy puppy was named Bass. Takumi suggested that Gerald ask Claire to watch the puppies while they were out of town and, as Claire was one of the few people that Gerald would trust with his life, he agreed that this suggestion was sound. After a phone call, Claire agreed to pet sit, but to maximize his bonding time, Gerald decided to make her apartment the final stop prior to their departure. This meant that after collecting up the kitten, the brothers were returning to the small home of Misaki Ayuzawa for the second time that day. Takumi desperately wanted to see her again, but he feared that if he came face to face with her, he would lose his resolve to peacefully return home and face the consequences of his actions. He handed his kitten to his brother and asked him to speak with Misaki. Before replying, Gerald looked at a Takumi. He could see the worry and anxiety in his little brother's expression. "Takumi, don't worry so much. This isn't going to be your last time here."

"How would you know that Gerald?"

"Listen," Gerald leaned in closely and almost whispered. He was about to reveal something that was potentially scandalous, "your case is being heard by the Idiots. Now I know our system is supposed to be completely impartial, but if you must know the truth, not everyone is treated as complete equals in the eyes of the law. Now, I don't want you to take advantage of this, but," Gerald paused concerned that he might be revealing too much, "well… I am rather tight with the members of that board. It's almost like I am an Idiot myself. I'm sort of like a mentor to them. I mean, before we left for the mission, I would review their work and help them see the problems they'd overlooked." Gerald reflected a moment more. Maybe he'd selected the wrong choice of words. "I am more than a mentor really. I suppose… and I don't mean to sound conceited here, I simply mention this so you understand why there is no need to fear… I am sort of revered by them. God like, I'd say. The secretary told me when I called this morning that even though I have been away all this time, the entire group speaks of me nearly daily." Takumi looked impressed. Gerald tried to look as though it was nothing, "sometimes, you just find your people, you know? Anyway. I only tell you all this so that you know that you're in good hands. They couldn't possibly do anything to one of my family members. In fact, you are very fortunate to have me as one of your brother in this case. I will protect you."

Takumi felt guilty for using his family connections and their influence, but he also felt relief. "Thank you Gerald. I couldn't ask for a better brother." This news cheered Takumi up greatly, but he was still unsure if his heart could handle seeing Misaki again before their departure. It was so difficult to leave her even over night. He wasn't sure how he could live being away for a longer period and there was no way of telling when they would be back. "Gerald, you are already doing more than enough for me, but would you please speak with Misaki for me?" He looked down at the cat carrier, "about my kitten I mean."

"Of course," he responded.

Gerald knocked on the door. When Misaki answered, she was rather surprised. Her mind had been a whirl of thought since a Takumi had left her that morning. She felt empty without him and felt as if he needed her now more than ever. It was such a relief to see Gerald was still here. It meant there was a good chance Takumi's plane had not yet taken off. "Gerald," she said, "I didn't expect you but I'm rather happy you are here." Gerald looked at her with surprise. No one had ever said that to him before. It was kind of nice to have someone happy to see you. He held the cat carrier out for her to take. Misaki looked inside the cage and asked, "are you asking me to watch Takumi's cat?"

"Well yes," Gerald replied, "isn't that why you were happy to see me?"

"No," Misaki answered, "I mean I wouldn't mind watching the kitten…. Does she have a name yet?" She paused to hear he response.

Gerald shook his head, "Takumi asked that you select a name while you watch her."

"Where is Takumi?" Misaki pressed. Gerald had been told he wasn't allowed to say where his brother was. No problem. He had this covered. He pointed to the car.

Misaki flew down the walkway and climbed into the limo. A rather shocked Gerald stumbled in after her. That girl was certainly fast! After they were all inside, Misaki looked at Takumi, "I can't watch Your kitten because I'm going with you! Someone you know is in trouble and I want to be there to support you while you support your friend. I will work at your house to help earn my keep and I will pay you back for travel expenses. You need me, and I love you, so I'm going too."

Takumi stared at her with disbelief and Gerald swallowed a lump in his throat. "I'm afraid that won't be possible Ms. Ayuzawa. You wouldn't exactly fit in where we are going," Gerald tried to explain as he thought of the radiation, poisonous gases and extreme temperatures of their home planet. Her frail little body wasn't designed for these conditions. She would be dead within minutes. In fact, Gerald and Takumi would be leaving in their own human forms in storage on Earth during their absence to prevent any damage.

Misaki narrowed her eyes and glared at Gerald. "What does that mean?" she asked. "Are you implying they don't have Japanese people in England?"

"Well no," Gerald chocked. He found her look rather intimidating. "Of course they have Japanese people in England."

Takumi had been watching and decided he needed to help his brother out. He too was concerned about Misaki's well being and he was more skilled when it came to explaining things delicately. "No he didn't mean you wouldn't fit in in England. He meant with our family. Our families are… well, they are from two different worlds."

With this, Misaki began to grow red from anger, "so money is the problem then?"

Takumi looked to Gerald for help. Gerald shrugged his shoulders. He too was lost to this concept. How could money be a problem? Lack of money maybe, but having money… heck, that made life so much easier. He'd need to jot this down as another possible thing to investigate about this society. Maybe their willingness to pay taxes had something to do with this vision that having too much money was problematic.

"Uhhhh," Takumi fumbled, "I'm not sure what you mean. I only know you would be very uncomfortable in our home and it would break my heart to see you become a spectacle in our neighborhood. I just want to protect you Misaki and Gerald is right. The best way to protect you is to leave you here."

"Takumi Usui!" Misaki screamed, "I have grown to accept that you are a perverted alien from the planet Pheromone, but I never pegged you as a snob! I can't believe you think so little of me to assume I'd be an embarrassment to your family!" Misaki started to cry. "I'm taking Licht here because she deserves to be in a home that treasures love over money. And because at least I care about her enough to give her a name!" She took the cat carrier and left the car, slamming the door on her way out.

Gerald turned on Takumi, "you told her you are an alien from the Planet Pheromone?! How much trouble are you trying to get yourself in?"

"I didn't! She just calls me that. It's just a coincidence that it happens to be true. I don't quite understand it myself. She seems to think it's some sort of ribbing," Takumi said. The sincerity in his voice was so obvious Gerald believed him. It was quite a coincidence. "Gerald?" Takumi continued, "did I just have a fight with my girlfriend? Is she mad at me? Do you know why she got mad?"

Had he said 'girlfriend'? Was Takumi dating the Student Body President? "Takumi… she's a human!" Gerald said stunned. "You know that's an entirely different species, right? There is really no way for her to ever live on Pheromone and there is a good chance we wouldn't even be able to find a way to have her so much as visit our home. If you wanted to be with a human… it would mean you'd have to live here for the rest of your life. You could never again visit mom and dad at home. You could never eat at your favorite restaurants again or watch the sunset over the bogs. And these humans are really somewhat primitive compared to our civilization. I don't even know if you could have children. Don't you see? There isn't a future in this relationship."

Takumi had been considering these factors for months now. Gerald hadn't brought up anything he himself had not considered. "Gerald," he asked softly, "would you give up Melody, Harmony and Bass to return to Pheromone? If you had to choose to forfeit one or the other which would you choose?" Gerald's face contorted. He couldn't make such a decision. "Now imagine feeling 10 times stronger about the puppies." Takumi paused. For him there had stopped being a choice months ago. He knew all along that it was Misaki. He had never felt the that he was 'home' until she had been by his side. He only hoped Gerald was right and that he would be given a light sentence for his crimes. If he could return to Earth, he vowed he would stay here by her side forever. It pained him to give up everything he had thought he'd held dear, but if it would give him a future with Misaki, he knew it was worth it. And maybe his parents could come to Earth to visit him. But a new fear had crept into his heart. He asked himself, did he still have a future with Misaki? Why had she been yelling at him? What had she meant when she implied he treasured money? Nothing could be further from the truth. He didn't care about money at all. What had he said or done to anger her so much? "Gerald? Why is she mad at me?"

"If we understood humans Takumi, we wouldn't have needed to come on this mission." Gerald looked at the time and realized they needed to go right away to make it on time to the hearing on time. He tasked Ralph with getting the puppies to Claire and Takumi accepted the fact that he would not be able to resolved the conflict with Misaki before he left. For now, she would remain hurt and angry and he would remain sad and confused.


	22. Chapter 21

Takumi waited in the hallway of the municipal building. The Idiots were running a few minutes behind schedule. He was told that he would be called when they were ready to hear his case. He felt weak and vulnerable. Gerald had to take care of some business but had promised to return as soon as possible. For now, this meant Takumi was all alone. He started down at the floor trying to keep his sense of despair in check.

"Takumi!" A woman's voice fluttered down the hallway. The voice was filled with love and light. The sound immediately improved Takumi's mood. He looked up to see his mother rushing down the hallway toward him with open arms and the undeniable look of maternal love. "My dear boy," she said once she reached his location and had wrapped him in her embrace, "how I have missed you." She pulled back to get a good look at him. This made her frown slightly. "Now Takumi, sweetheart, don't look so worried. All you did was point out something that was right there in the sky for everyone to see. Your actions didn't put anyone here in danger. The people that you spoke to can do nothing with the information you gave. Our leaders have said they want to encourage intergalactic relations. I can't image your sentence will be very sever." Takumi looked at her and smiled slightly, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. He wasn't just worried about his punishment. He was also worried because he couldn't understand what he had said or done to make Misaki so angry. He wasn't sure what her anger meant either. If he could go back to her, would she still want him?

Patricia Walker was able to read both her sons better than anyone else. She knew that the darkness of Takumi's spirit must go beyond the situation he currently found himself in. He didn't seem ready to talk about it, but she figured he'd come around. Besides, this hearing was imminent. It was best to deal with one issue at a time. "Well, your father and grandfather are here as well. I'm not sure when the last time all these busy men came together. It's like a family reunion." She was hoping to lighten the mood and let him know he was supported. Just then, a bailiff approached the pair and informed them that the Idiots were ready for them.

Takumi and Patricia walked into the room. Patricia took a seat next to her husband while Takumi sat alone at the seat at the small table in front of the six foreboding chairs that belonged to the Idiots. Custom dictated that the Idiots wait until the accused and the audience were present before entering the room from a door in the back. This permitted them to make a grand entrance. The bailiff asked everyone present to stand which was the cue for the Idiots to march out and take their seats. The Idiots filed into the room. The group was running behind schedule because, after deciding on what they would do to Gerald Walker, they asked Fred to copy the sentence onto a blank piece of paper. Fred had the best handwriting in the group and they all agreed it would be nice to have the sentence framed and hung in their board room as a reminder that they were the individuals responsible for ridding their world of the annoying pest known as Gerald Walker. It would serve as a tribute to the service they provided to their community.

After taking their seats, the Idiots turned their attention to the man sitting at the small table up front. There was a moment of silence as the reality of the situation dawned on each of the Idiots. Art was the first to speak. He hoped that perhaps there was some sort of error. "Good afternoon Mr. Walker. Are you mounting the defense for your older brother, Mr. Gerald Walker?"

Takumi shook his head, "no your honor. I sit before you as the accused."

Fred look away in annoyance. With a small flash of anger he took the paper he had so lovingly written Gerald's sentence on and crumbled it into a ball. He was about to throw it like a basketball across the room into the waste bin but then he remembered where he was. He set the balled up paper on the counter in front of him and did his best to resume his professional demeanor. The rest of the Idiots were also struggling with their emotions but were making an effort to appear unperturbed. Bob turned to the Bailiff, "would you please read the charges?"

The bailiff proceeded to read out the crimes of which Takumi had been accused. Takumi, who was staring down at the desk before him, failed to notice Gerald enter the room. Gerald took his seat next to the rest of his family and listened. After the Bailiff finished reading, Ed asked Takumi if he was guilty as accused. Takumi simply said "yes". Dan felt sorry for Takumi. He clearly seemed remorseful and in reality his crime hadn't actually resulted in any damages. Dan piped up and encouraged Takumi to elaborate and explain his motives. The Idiots were fond of a Takumi Walker and were interested in finding an excuse or reason that would allow them to impose a light sentence. Unfortunately, Takumi's heart wasn't in it and he made no attempt to justify his actions.

As Gerald watched from the audience, it became abundantly clear that things were not going well. Gerald knew what he needed to do. Yet again, he would rescue his flailing brother. Gerald knew how vital he was to the members of the board and how indispensable he was to his home planet. His power, insight, intelligence and philanthropy would protect both himself and his brother during these trying times. It was time for Gerald to play his trump card.

Gerald cleared his throat and spoke. "As the mission leader it was my responsibility to oversee the actions of my subordinates. Having failed to appropriately monitor the actions of Mr. Takumi Walker, I too bare a share of responsibility in this disaster. Therefore, I ask the board to inflict the same punishment on me that is imposed on the accused."

Upon hearing this statement, Dan, who had been dozing off, perked up. Art's face lit up with a faint smile. Bob stopped counting the number of spins he could get out of his pencil. Charlie silently dropped his cell phone onto his lap, no longer interested in the game of solitaire he'd been surreptitiously playing. Fred started un-crumpled the piece of paper he had brought into the meeting. Ed began texting his broker to ask that he purchase 50 more shares of stock in The Walker Corporation. And Takumi looked over at his brother with his eyes full of gratitude, amazement, respect and love.

It really didn't matter any longer how much sympathy or fondness the Idiots had for Takumi. They had a once in a lifetime opportunity to rid their planet of Gerald Walker. The Idiots excused themselves to the conference room. It was really just a technicality. They needed to make a pretense of conferring and coming to a consensus so it wasn't quite so obvious that they had decided the verdict and sentence prior to hearing the facts in the case. But of course ever one of the six members knew exactly what they needed to do. After a short absence, the group asked the bailiff to call the room to order. Then the six members returned their chairs. It was agreed that Charlie would read the verdict. Charlie cleared his thread and read from the crumpled piece of paper Fred had handed him. "We, the Idiots, unanimously agree that the defendant is responsible for the crimes for which he's been accused. Further, we find that, as the defendant's supervisor and leader of the mission, Gerald Walker is also copiable in these grave actions. We sentence both Takumi and Gerald Walker to exile to the plant Earth. All upgrades that have been installed into their human bodies shall be removed from their bodies and their human bodies will be modified to be indistinguishable from, and function exactly the same as, the natural human forms. You will both be given one week to put your affairs in order before you will be returned to the planet Earth."

Richard Walker who has been quietly sitting in the audience could not contain himself any longer. He stood up and shouted at the board, "this is ridiculous! The actions taken by my grandson did not result in any actual injury to anyone! These humans have no means to even properly view our planet much less visit it. And you can't possibly banish Gerald to Earth. He's been named my successor." Richard was practically purple he was so angry. His voice had grown louder and louder. "Why this sentence is an insult to the Walker family name. We have practically built this civilization. You had better reconsider your decision because if you banish both my grandsons to Earth, I swear to God, I will pack my bags and relocate The Walker Corporation to Earth."

Upon hearing his speech, Fred and Dan gave each other high fives under the table. Ed texted his broker to buy 300 more shares of stock in The Walker Corporation. Art ordered a celebratory cake to be delivered in 15 minutes. Charlie texted his secretary to see if she could review the employee handbook to see if alcohol could be consumed at work in anticipation of making a toast. Bob sent an email to his realtor asking him to put his vacation home on Earth up for sale. And Takumi and Gerald looked at their grandfather with gratitude, amazement, respect and love.

Dan cleared his voice. He tried to bury the joy he felt and put on his most professional sounding voice. "Mr. Walker, you are a pillar of our society and it will pain us to see you go." Fred kicked Dan under the table in an effort to remind him not to say anything too kind that might get the old man to renege on his offer. Dan stifled a yelp of pain and continued, "but I speak on behalf of this entire board when I say that we cannot allow ourselves to be influenced by our personal feelings toward the great Walker family and we shall, therefore, stand behind our initial sentence." Art put his head down and covered his mouth to muffle a giggle.

After the Walker family left the building, the Art got on the phone with his secretary. He gave her instructions to bring him a list of all Pheromonians currently residing on a Earth. After scanning the list, he asked that his secretary to assign Claire the task of removing the upgrades from Gerald Walkers Earthly body. Claire was through and efficient to a fault. She would make sure that Gerald would be left with absolutely no advantage for the balance of his life on Earth. He also asked that she assign Ralph the task of removing such upgrades from Takumi Walker's body. Ralph was ...well Art might call him an idiot if they hadn't decided to ban that particular derogatory term from this work place. Needless to say, it would be safe to assume Takumi Walker would be retaining most of his Godlike abilities and would remain a spectre of wonder and delight during his remaining time on Earth.

Once the Walker family reached their mansion, Richard called a family meeting. "You boys will no longer work on that research project," he huffed. "It's not right to waste your talents doing work that will benefit a government that has treated you so unfairly. Instead, we will all relocate to Earth and Gerald will help me run The Walker Corporation. And you Takumi, you will finish school."

"I'd like to continue my education in Tokyo," Takumi interjected. Richard nodded in agreement. The boys would be going through enough changes. There was no reason to further burden them by altering the lives they had been living on Earth.

Patricia he been carefully watching Takumi all day and it was clear that his mood had improved after hearing his sentence. She wanted to get to the heart of what was truly bothering him. "Father," she said, "it is past lunchtime. Perhaps Takumi and I will stop by the kitchen and remind the staff to prepare lunch. We will also ask the chef for some refreshments that we can bring back to snack on while we wait for our meal." Richard was distracted thinking about what he would need to do to transfer operations of his company to Earth. He could leave most of the facilities here and simply more the headquarters to Earth. Patricia used his distraction to her advantage and slipped out of the room pulling Takumi with her. Once they were a safe distance from the others, Patricia turned to her son. "Takumi, something's bothering you and it is not this affair with the Idiots. What is happening my dear?"

Takumi knew better than to try to hide things from his mother. She was always able to see straight through him. He wasn't sure how she would react. Now that he was bound to live life as a human, perhaps it was more acceptable that he happened to be in love with a human. "Mom," he said hesitantly, "I'm in love."

Patricia gasped and broke into a huge smile. "She must be an Earthling, right? That's why you were so happy to be bound there!"

Takumi never ceased to be surprised by his mother. She would hide in the shadows but probably knew more than anyone he'd ever met. And she actually seemed happy for him. He'd expected her to be horrified and disgusted like Gerald. As if reading his thoughts, Patricia continued. "My dear, love is never something to be ashamed of. It gives us our humanity and elevates us to be a better version of ourselves. We cannot decide when or whom we love. We just need to be grateful and try our hardest to be worthy of having our love returned." Patricia saw a flash of pain cross her son's face. "Does she not love you back?" His expression gave her the answer she needed. The girl might love him, but her son certainly wasn't secure in this fact. "Well don't worry dear. That's nothing that we can't fix together."


	23. Chapter 22 - just fluff no real plot

**Sorry for the delay. The delay is a result of three factors. (1) I'm trying to edit a different story I'd written and it is really slow, dull work. It's like the more I edit, the more I think "hummm, this really isn't as good as I thought. It's not all that entertaining." And that thought puts me off writing entirely. (2) I am forcing someone I love to read this story and give me an opinion on where it should go next, but he is taking his sweet time catching up so he can weigh in. (3) my responsibilities in my personal life have increased so I generally have less time for this hobby. But I feel bad taking soooo long so I decided to add a chapter that really doesn't add to much to furthering the story but maybe fills in some holes.**

 **Since #2 may take a while, maybe you guys could weigh in on my question? I want to know how important it is that Misaki finds out Takumi is actually an alien in this story. There are two paths for the story depending on that answer.**

 **Chapter 22**

Over the next few days it was decided that Patricia Walker would stay behind on Pheromone to oversee business operations until things were up and running on Earth. Edward, her husband and the boys' father, would go to Earth mostly to provide moral support to Gerald who had taken the exile to heart. The boys would continue to stick to their cover story that they had separate fathers and Patricia developed a rather sordid and scandalous story about an affair with her butler because she decided it would be more entertaining than the alternatives and it would explain why Takumi was off living in Japan alone. They all agreed to say Patricia was dead to explain her absence, but it was understood that she would assume the role of Edward's second wife when she did decide to move to Earth.

Having Patricia stay behind took a lot of pressure off in terms of trying to get all of their affairs in order in a week's time. Takumi decided to use some of that time to bond with his mother. He wanted to explain what Misaki had said the last time they'd spoken so he could see if his mother had any insight into what he had done wrong. They were sitting in the parlor having tea when Takumi decided to introduce the conversation by asking her something that had been puzzling him.

"Mother," Takumi asked, "How did you know about love?"

Patricia was a bit embarrassed. As a Pheromonians, she should be controlled strictly by logic and reason. But, just as her sons had done, she too had traveled to other planets in her youth. There she had witnessed all sorts of wonders and some she even decided had value despite the widely held opinions of her father and his stuffy society. It was on such a mission that she had met Edward. They were both expected to select other more appropriate mates, but their shared foray into this new experience of love had made them decide to alter those plans. Neither Patricia or Edward ever regretted the decision. They both rather liked the feeling and believed that their marriage was stronger because of it. But the idea of love was frowned upon in her society and they had been careful not to reveal that aspect of their relationship.

"I suppose I too stumbled upon it during my years of doing research into life on other planets. Much like you have my dear," Patricia explained.

Takumi nodded. He had assumed as much. He was grateful that his mother didn't avoid contact with him. Although Gerald said that he understood it was neither communicable nor a disease, he had been careful to avoid touching Takumi since he had come down with the condition. "Mother, the one I love became upset with me and I don't know why," Takumi proceeded to relay the last conversation he had shared with Misaki and asked him mother to translate.

Patricia laughed. "Why it sounds like a misunderstanding, my dear. You meant to say she couldn't come here because," Patricia looked for a way to put it delicately, "she would expire in minutes because of her pathetic, weak, unsophisticated body." She smiled, pleased with herself for being so careful with her words. "She thought you were just off to England and didn't understand the reason behind your concerns."

"But Mother," Takumi asked, "why did she think I didn't want her to join me in England?"

"Well, she seemed to think we were concerned that we had so much money," his mother reflected. "I suppose money can cause problems. Quite often, one must find a way to use up all that money and as a result they must buy things. This can lead to the rich building big garish mansions that are cluttered with a bunch of ghastly, tacky items. Of course, we don't have that issue." The pair nodded as they looked around the hot pink parlor which has covered zebra, tiger, and leopard patterned rugs and drapes. Gold and silver chandlers hung from the ceiling and a pair of fuzzy dice pillows topped off the various emoji pillows filling the purple velvet couch. "She must have assumed you were concerned that she would be put off about our awful tastes, if we had them of course, and she was offended that you would think she was that type of person."

"Thank you mother," Takumi responded. "You are so insightful. You're right. The answer was so obvious. How do you think I should clear this up?"

"Well, you can't very well explain that you came here and not England,". Patricia mused. This was a bit of a pickle. "Well, for one, we should go buy her a sovereign. Gifts always help resolve disagreements." Takumi decided he would pick up something British from the internet to help his cover. He found some British book she'd like and scheduled it for delivery at his Tokyo apartment. It was used, but Misaki seemed to like being thrifty.

Patricia also convinced him that he should buy her something elegant and expensive. Perhaps something from his home planet. Nothing that was too unusual. There was no need to find an object that couldn't be obtained on Earth. Rather, it should be something that would remind him of his birth place but that she would simply view as a lovely gift. After much talk, they decided that a piece of local jewelry would be nice. The style of Pheromonian jewelry was different than that of Earth's but the materials were all elements one could acquire on Earth. Patricia brought her son to her favorite jeweler. Of course, money was no object so Patricia walked over and picked up a necklace with her favorite stones.

"Oh Takumi dear,"she called, "what do you think of this one? Isn't it lovely?" She held the necklace out for him to examine. Takumi frowned.

"It is quite nice mother, but I'm afraid Misaki can't wear Uranium and Plutonium," Takumi could see his mother's confusion. "It radioactive and she's kind of allergic to radioactivity."

"Oh. I see." Patricia didn't actually see at all, but apparently, she might as well plan to leave most of her jewelry to Gerald's future wife. "Well what type of stones and metals were you thinking of honey?"

"I did need to have a piece of jewelry made on Earth fairly recently and so I happened into a jewelry store. It seemed that they tended to use metals like gold, silver or platinum and diamonds were a very popular option of stones," Takumi offered hopeful that his observations would aid them in this difficult task of finding the perfect gift.

Patricia frowned. "Diamonds are not for jewelry! They are hard and plentiful. They make decent countertops or maybe you could use them to pave your driveway, but that sounds like a terrible idea for a necklace or ring! I thought you should get her something _nice_."

Takumi looked out the window. He could see the piles of diamonds used for landscaping. His mother was right. What a silly idea. No reputable jeweler in town would be caught dead designing something using diamonds. "Well, they did have some colorful stones as well. I believe I saw rubies, emeralds, opals, sapphires, topaz, amethyst, things like that. Maybe one of those?"

Patricia shook her head. This was the problem with having sons. They had no idea how to shop for women's items. "Sweetie," she protested, "I said you should get her something _**nice**_! Like here…" she went over and picked up a ring and handed it to him. "Now isn't the chalk on this ring just beautiful?" Takumi examined the ring with the large piece of chalk protruding out. It was nice it. It was such a soft material though.

"Well mother, Misaki uses her hands quite a bit. This stone is rather soft and might get beaten up a bit if she wears it."

"You wear this type of ring on your fifth hand dear," Patricia explained the obvious.

Takumi didn't want to have to tell her this already, but it seemed unavoidable, "Misaki only has two hands mom and she uses them both all the time."

Patricia took the news in strides. She shifted to another counter and held up a pair of black earrings. "Oh! Look at these ones dear! Did I ever tell you that your father bought me something just like these on our first Christmas together?"

Takumi nodded. He also remembered why his father had picked that stone. Maybe he should give these lovely coal earrings to Misaki for Christmas. He vaguely remembered something about Santa and coal, so the gift would be perfect for the season.


	24. Chapter 23

**Okay – I got two answers and both wanted Misaki to find out Takumi's secret. Only 3 people comment these days, thank you Minnie Miss, Melody, and Padfoot!, so I think that the poll probably has 100% participation and I shouldn't wait for more feedback. So that's the route we're going – secret will be revealed. I have been binge reading Gone With The Wind fan fiction. I'm talking obsessively… read, analyze, research, re-read, beg authors for spoilers and more… like I am spending more time delving into every word of these stories (one in particular) than anything I'd ever write. I could write a dissertation on this story I am reviewing, scanning, rereading it to the neglect of all else in my life. (And it's not even done and hasn't been updated for YEARS). Point is… I'm all "oh, I want to write some melodrama". So my inclination is have Misaki discover Takumi's secret and feel utterly betrayed and heartbroken because he failed to confide in her. He struggles to win her back, but Tora shows up and plays on her emotions causing Takumi heartbreak. Drag this out for a while watching both characters suffer. Make Misaki's pride keep her from resolving this with Takumi for far too long. Gerald can't forgive Takumi for his sentence. Grandfather hates Earth. For this, his family disowns him. He struggles and suffers more. Chapter upon chapter dwell on his emotions. More chapters dwell on Misaki's emotions. Lots of angst, heartbreak, struggle… but in the end of course, through some sweeping measure, the pair of love birds reunite. But of course that is totally not what this story is supposed to be! It's supposed to be silly, funny, light and full of trivial misunderstandings because one party comes from an entirely different environment and keeps trying to use his set of life tools from home in a place that doesn't work like home. So I write this long winded note to help you forgive me if some of that annoying drama slips into this story. Blame those amazing writers of GWTW FanFiction for mind controlling me through their incredible, fantastic, page turners. Dang them!**

Misaki looked at Licht. "Your daddy will be home today," she told the kitten. She wondered if Licht missed Takumi as much as she did. The thought had barely entered her mind when she banished it. She had not missed him. Surely not! That would be ridiculous. Still, it had been lovely having his kitten to snuggle and cuddle while he'd been gone. It made her feel just a little bit less empty. Of course, Misaki wouldn't admit that she felt empty because she was lonely when some man had left town for a short while. No. She felt that way over the past few weeks because… because… well, she must just have a touch of the stomach flu. That had to be it. And now, she was just feeling a little melancholy because she'd grown accustomed to having Licht around and she had to give her back.

She looked at the clock. He had called and mentioned he'd be back shortly after lunch. Right now it was late morning. She had a few errands to run. Some of the shops were in his neighborhood. She could always take Licht with her and then go straight to his place once he was home. Because, Licht so missed her father, of course. Misaki grabbed her things and headed out the door.

Unbeknownst to our heroine, Takumi's apartment was a flutter of activity. Claire and Ralph had retrieved Gerald and Takumi's human bodies from storage and were in the process of setting up all the equipment necessary to transfer the life essence of the aliens to these Earthly forms. Richard and Edward would need to bring their bodies with them but they would surely appreciate that the equipment was all set up. They had tried setting things up the previous evening, but Ralph had spilled coffee all over one box of equipment so they had to bring in replacement equipment and start again this morning.

"So Ralph," Claire asked, "you went through and removed any upgrades from Takumi's body right?"

Ralph frowned. He was glad his back was to Claire. He knew there was something on his "to do" list that was supposed to be done today. Shoot. Ralph decided to nod, afraid his voice would give away the truth.

Claire could sense Ralph's hesitation. She mistook his tension for the feeling that had been nagging her for the last few days. "I know, right?" Claire said trying to let poor Ralph know he was not alone, "getting some of those things out was such a pain. My fingers are crossed that, once we transfer Gerald back into this body, he isn't paralyzed or comatose. It took me three solid days to make sure I'd done all the changes. How long did it take you?"

Ralph had only been half listening. His mind was wandering to how long it would take before it would become obvious that he hadn't actually remembered to do any of it. He had made sure the body was identical to any other humans and functioned in exactly the same way, but most of the upgrades were up in the brain region and he hadn't touched much up there. "Uhhh… it took maybe two days I guess," Ralph ventured. Ralph hadn't fully thought out his answer. He'd reflexively given her a timeframe that would best her own. She was always one step ahead and for once he wanted to be the golden child. Maybe that wasn't such a great idea since he was already trying to bluff about having removed the upgrades. Trying to appear superior was just going to make her question him further.

Claire was shocked. "Two days! That's incredible. Didn't he have upgrades in his muscles and bones to make him faster, more graceful, and indestructible? Those ones took me at least two days alone. How were you able to get through those so quickly?"

Upgrades were installed in the muscles? God, how did she know all this? Ralph should have used this opportunity to back peddle. He could tell her that he hadn't counted that work in his estimation. If his work was a little lackluster and maybe took him a bit longer to do, it would be more believable that he had, at least, done it. But Ralph's pride prevented him from taking the more prudent route. Instead, he decided to switch topics. "I'll be right back. I'm going to check the mailbox and bring Mr. Walker's mail up stairs." Ralph left the apartment leaving the door to Takumi's apartment slightly ajar.

Misaki was walking by the front of Takumi's apartment when she noticed a truck bearing the name "The Walker Corporation" on the side. She was certain that was the name of the company that Takumi's family owned. Her mind rapidly put the pieces together. The plane must have come in early, or he'd caught an earlier plane. A company representative must have picked him up from the airport and brought him home. Okay, maybe there were other possibilities, but this explanation wasn't too far fetched. She stepped into the elevator and went to Takumi's floor. As she got off the elevator, she brushed by some guy in a suit that was waiting to go down stairs. She decided to wait until he was out of sight before checking on Takumi. She still remembered with embarrassment the scene they had made in the hallway that night Takumi pulled his little magic trick. She didn't know if this guy had been one of the many spectators but if he was, she'd prefer to pretend she lived in one of the apartments down one of the other corridors. She sure as heck didn't want to look like she was affiliated with the pervert that lived in the apartment just opposite the elevator.

Once the elevator doors closed and carried away the suit guy, she approached Takumi's door. It was ajar. She pushed it open and saw the back of some woman, a lot of weird electronics and two coffin shaped boxes labeled with the Walker Corporation's trademark. The scene was surreal, but Misaki really wasn't taking any of that in. She was staring at the cold, lifeless, bodies in the coffin boxes. Her heart beat faster and her stomach felt as if she'd been punched. Those corpses were unmistakably Gerald's and Takumi's.


	25. Chapter 24

**Hi Dear Readers! I didn't mean to imply I will make the story melodramatic. That would be out of keeping with the title and expectations. I just meant that some might accidentally slip in because that's where my mind is. I'll try to avoid it, but sometimes my mood gets reflected in the writing even when I'm trying to avoid it. Thanks for the reviews! You guys are way too kind!**

If Misaki had ever stopped to consider how she would feel or react if something were to happen to Takumi, and she was being honest with herself, she would have assumed her heart would break into a million pieces. Yes it was cliché but, she reminded herself, she was a high school student and she would have just endured a terrible tragedy. Under such circumstances, having her internal thoughts seem a little cliché should have been forgivable. It wasn't like she was a middle aged adult, with the heart of a kid, writing fan fiction or something. If that were the case, then of course she should be able to come up with a better description, but, fortunately, that wasn't the case because that would just be pathetic.

Now that she was faced with the actually of seeing his lifeless body, her raw emotion was fear. Of course that could have something to do with the short, petite lady wearing a business suit and high heels that was standing a few feet away from the body. Obviously, that itty bitty thing was a cold-blooded, psychopathic murder! Misaki reached for her cell phone, but than thought it would be better to get the hell away from this frightening killer before calling the police. If she made the call now, and was overheard, who knows what type of danger she'd be in. Seeing Takumi dead, she became acutely aware that she had loved the weird, perverted space alien, but that didn't mean she was ready to die to be by his side. Misaki looked to the elevator. It had just left to return to the lobby. Waiting for it to come back would take too long. She scanned the hallways and spotted the stairs. She made a mad dash for them and threw open the door. Apparently, that door made enough noise to alert the assassin and, as Misaki flew down the stairs, she could hear the voice of that scary woman flutter down the stairwell just before the door to the stairs closed. It sounded as if she had said, "Ralph, is that you?"

Misaki continued to run down the stairs, taking four at a time. Why did Takumi have to live on the top floor? Had the guy learned nothing from the World Trade Center tragedy? This was taking forever. She attempted to pull out her cell phone as she was fleeing, but as soon as she'd freed the device from her pocket, she observed that the cell phone reception within the stairwell was essentially non existent. She needed to get to the to the first floor.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally burst through to the lobby. She was panting and exhausted and probably had drawn the attention of everyone in the room. She didn't really care, of course. This was her life on the line and safety was her chief concern, but she had spent years worrying over making a scene and her body automatically took in her surroundings to see who was watching her. It was simply a reflex. There were an excessive amount of crates in the lobby, but there weren't many people. Still, Misaki felt a surge of gratitude that she had instinctively taken a look around because the suit guy from the elevator was standing in front of the mail slots collecting up items from… Takumi's apartment! Suit guy was in cahoots with tiny suit girl! Suit guy was probably Ralph. Crap, crap,crap,crap,crap. She couldn't make the call here either. She turned toward the door when Licht leaped from her arms and ran over to one of the crates. Misaki's eyes darted over to Licht and she saw that the crate was labeled "Takumi"! Licht was rubbing against the crate purring like Takumi was actually in the crate. Misaki felt the sharp pain in her heart. Now was not the time to mourn. A torrent of emotions were just being held at bay and it took everything she had to keep it together. Watching poor Licht trying to bond with a box, that happened to contain something belonging to Takumi, wasn't helping her. In fact, it was simply heart wrenching.

Licht, of course knew exactly what was in that crate. It must have been the smell that made her sure. The crate was far too small for Licht to be right, but she knew without a doubt that her adopted father, Takumi, was on the other side of those thin wood slats.

Misaki started walking toward Licht when Ralph's phone rang. "No…no. I'm positive I closed the door" Misaki thought he sounded a little unsure for someone claiming to be so sure. "A witness?" he continued a moment later. "Any idea what this witness looks like?" He paused. "Well the crates are here now. Do you want me to bring those up first?" Misaki looked sheet white. This big guy knew what she'd seen and he was looking for her. Her eyes were wide with fear. Then she heard, clear as day, Takumi's voice telling her not to worry, and everything would be okay. That was the final straw, her mind went blank and she collapsed to the floor.


	26. Chapter 25

Misaki lay unconscious on Takumi's couch. Ralph had carried her up to Takumi's apartment because Claire was afraid Misaki might misconstrue what had happened and attempt to call the authorities. If they could keep her unconscious for a little while, they could transfer Takumi into his human body and maybe even move all the equipment into his bedroom. Then, Takumi could explain to her when she woke up, that it had just been a dream. If they didn't have enough time to hide all the equipment, maybe she could be convinced it was equipment for a magic trick. Takumi had mentioned she thought he was an amateur magician. The longer Misaki remained unconscious the better for Claire and Ralph. Each extra minute meant one more minute to properly stage, or unstage, the scene.

"Ralph," Claire asked, "do we still have some of that dry ice we used to keep the Walker brothers frozen?"

Ralph checked. He let Claire know not to worry, there was plenty left. Claire had an idea. Dry ice was solid carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide could be used to make, or in this case keep, a human unconscious. Of course, she had to be quite careful as to how much to use. Too much could lead to death, but if Claire was good at anything, she was good at chemistry.

So it was that Misaki remained sedated while Takumi and Gerald were transferred into their human forms and the equipment was packed up. The bodies for Richard and Edward were waiting in England so they remained in their alien forms. Given their forms these two men were unable to help move equipment to the truck so instead the sat watching Misaki lay on the couch.

"So Gerald," Richard asked, "this human here… is this what all humans look like?"

"More or less," Gerald responded. "There are some minor differences between genders and each human seems to have some very minor individual characteristics, but she's a fairly typical example."

"So she isn't deformed or anything," Richard asked a bit incredulous. Honestly, she didn't have horns or a tail and she only had two arms! Not to mention her skin was decidedly lacking a green hue.

"No," Gerald responded, "she's not deformed. In fact, I'd say this one is on the prettier end of the scale in terms of humans." With this statement Edward and Richard both looked at each other with surprise.

"Takumi," Edward asked, "did I hear correctly that this is your girlfriend?"

"For the fourth time… yes Dad," Takumi replied.

Edward shook his head. He looked at his two sons in their human forms and felt so sad that his once handsome boys were now doomed to live as one of these hideous creatures. The equipment had now been moved out of the apartment. While removing the makeshift devise she had been using to make sure Misaki was breathing in a mixture of air that contained a large amount of carbon dioxide, Claire informed Gerald that his puppies were waiting for him in Takumi's room. She hadn't wanted them running around while all the equipment was strewn about or while they were moving it. Initially Edward and Richard had planned to climb back into their boxes and be brought to the truck, but once Gerald found out his sweeties were waiting for him in this very apartment, he simply had to introduce them to his father or grandfather. So it was that as Misaki regained consciousness, Gerald, Richard, Edward, Ralph, Claire, Harmony, Melody, and Bass all remained in Takumi's bedroom - out of sight and making Herculean efforts to remain quite.

"Takumi!" Misaki said blinking her eyes for a minute. She looked around her. This was not the lobby. There were no crates or people in suits. This was just Takumi's living room and no one was here but Takumi, Litch and her. Oh God! Takumi was here! Alive! She never thought she'd feel such joy and relief. She reached up and grabbed him fiercely pulling him into a bear hug. Tears began streaming down her face. "I thought I'd lost you," she choked out between sobs. It was faint but filled with emotion. Then she pulled away and looked him straight in the eyes, "you are never allowed to leave me again, do you understand me?" I was a stern warning and Takumi almost felt scared to defy her.

Takumi was a touch confused by this unexpected greeting but she had clearly forgiven him for what ever it was he'd done and that made him feel a thousand times lighter. Misaki shook Takumi a bit as she was waiting for him to swear to never leave her side again. He agreed and she dried her tears, pulled him down on the couch to sit next to her, and began talking again.

"You could not possibly believe what a horrible nightmare I just had!" Misaki said. She was about to tell her story when she was struck with confusion. "How did I end up here? In your apartment I mean?"

Takumi had practiced his speech. "My brother had arranged to have a company vehicle collect us at the airport and I was being dropped off at home. I went into the lobby and I saw you on the floor. Someone that was there told me packages had just been delivered earlier in the day and apparently you had just tripped on one and fell down and hit your head. I brought you up here to lie down. Now that your conscious again, I'd like to bring you to a doctor just to check that you aren't seriously injured."

Misaki took all this in. She wasn't normally so clumsy. She must have been distracted. She looked down at her watch. That was odd. Her last errand had been to stop by the drug store to pick up something for her mother. The clerk made a big fuss that it was 11:20 and it was supposed to be her break time, but she was helping Misaki instead. Now it was 2:30pm. "Takumi," Misaki asked. "How long was I out for?"

Takumi thought about how to answer this. It would be dangerous to not seek medical attention of it had been for very long. "I'd say about 15 minutes," he answered.

Just then Takumi's bedroom door opened up, and Ralph hurried down the hall to the bathroom. "Sorry! Had to pee!" he shouted to no one and everyone.

Misaki froze. That was suit guy. He was in Takumi's apartment. She turned pale. "Who is he! What is he doing here?" The words were somehow both a shout and a whisper. The emotion of fear was palpable.

Takumi couldn't believe Ralph. He couldn't have waited 10 more minutes? How was he supposed to explain why he was hiding in his room. He was trying to think on his feet, "that is the company employee that dropped me off from the airport," he explained. Maybe he was worried over nothing. She wasn't necessarily going to probe him for more.

"Why was he hiding in your bedroom?" Misaki pressed.

Takumi sighed. Of course she was going to probe. "Well, I was getting cable installed and he was helping rewire things?" It sounded a bit like a question because he wasn't sure if that sounded plausible.

"I recognize that guy Takumi. He was a killer in that weird dream I was going to tell you about. Why do I know him, if it was all just a dream?" Misaki wanted to hear a reasonable answer. She obviously didn't want a killer hanging out in Takumi's bedroom, but she was really freaked out that she recognized this supposedly random stranger.

"You must have seen him in the lobby before you passed out," Takumi suggested.

"You said he drove you home from the airport and I was passed out when you went inside. How could I see him if he was in the car until after I passed out?"

Takumi was running out of ideas here. It was like Misaki was a spider who had this elaborate web. Every time he got stuck to the web, he'd wiggle himself out only to find his escape had led to a new trap. As Takumi struggled to answer her question, Harmony escaped from the bedroom and bounced down the hallway. Takumi made a note to get Ralph some training on how to close doors. Richard's voice could be heard coming from the bedroom, "Don't worry Gerald, your brother is a smart boy. He'll be able to explain this."

Misaki was sure something was up. Takumi was lying about the time and about this guy. Then a woman's voice came out of the bedroom. Now he was hiding women in his bedroom? Before he could stop her, Misaki was on her feet, flying down the hall to his bedroom. She threw open the door and let out a scream.


	27. Chapter 26

The second that Misaki opened the bedroom door, her eyes narrowed in on Claire. She hadn't previously seen her face, but based on the size, build and attire, there was no doubt in her mind that this was the tiny female assassin of her dreams. Misaki was quickly coming to the conclusion that what ever it was she'd been through this afternoon, it had not been a dream. After the initial scream escaped from her lips, Misaki tried to turn to Takumi, to warn him that this woman and the guy in the bathroom were dangerous, but she was frozen. She had just observed Gerald. Now, Misaki would be the first to admit that she was not a doctor, but as she observed Gerald smiling and playing with some puppies, she became certain that Gerald was not dead. In fact, given his actions and appearance, she strongly suspected he had never been dead. If both Gerald and Takumi were alive, then she really had no reason to assume that this woman or the guy in the bathroom were killers. But what was going on? They all seemed to be trying to hide something from her and it seemed quite odd that they all decided to hang out in their host's bedroom.

Takumi had been about a half step behind Misaki. He was breathless and his wide eyes screamed panic. He scanned the room over Misaki's shoulder. His father and grandfather seemed to be hiding. Takumi could tell instantly that they were hiding behind the pillows. It was not a very good hiding spot, but Misaki hadn't seemed to notice them yet.

"Misaki, I really need to get you to the doctor now to check out that bump on your head. I'll tell you all about these people on the way there," Takumi said as he tried to pull her from the doorway out toward the living room. Misaki wouldn't budge.

She had heard a male voice coming from here and it wasn't Gerald's. Her eyes narrowed in on the pillows. They were standing upright and they were not resting against the headboard. There was something behind those pillows and she was pretty sure she would find the source of that male voice. But why would this mystery guy hide when the woman did not? Misaki marched over to the bed, grabbed both pillows and yanked them away. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes grew large.

Takumi seemed to have a pair of Pokémon in his bed. But they weren't the virtual kind. These ones she could see without a phone, in fact… and she reached out and poked one… she could actually feel them. They looked a little like a shiny ditto dressed up as a devil that happened to have a few extra arms. When she'd poked the one, it swatted one of said arms at her and made a grouchy face. "Takumi, are these some sort of animatronics you had made?" she asked.

Takumi looked to Claire for help. Claire nodded to suggest he play along with it. "Yep. You got me. That's exactly what they are… surprise!"

"Is one for me?" Misaki asked trying to pick one up and flip it around to find where the batteries and the on/ off switch were. These things were a lot heavier than they looked. They also seemed to be fighting her off swatting at her and mumbling something. They looked so lifelike. And the material they'd used to craft these things were like nothing she'd ever seen.

"No," Takumi said firmly, "they're just a prototype for something Gerald and I have been working on. Gerald needs to take them back to the factory right now. They are super top secret. Just pretend you never saw them."

"What are they made of? It's not quite a fabrics and it's not plastic." Misaki continued examine the one she was holding. She tried to open its mouth and see inside, but as she did the thing started to quiver and convulse and next it let out a big sneeze. Goo came dripping out of its nose and bits of mucus landed all over Misaki's face. Using her hand to try to dry off her face, Misaki said, "I think that feature is a design flaw. I don't think the consumers are going to find that feature all that funny."

Misaki was holding poor Edward. He was deeply embarrassed and wanted nothing more that to get out of this human's arms, find a tissue and clean himself up. It was positively undignified having this female scrutinize his body and try to stick her fingers in places they did not belong. He was unsure how much more of this he would be able to take. He breathed a sigh of relief when she set him back down in order to find a tissue for herself.

Misaki wiped her face. "Takumi," she asked, "what is that stuff that just squirted out of your animatronic prototype? It smells so very foul and is terribly sticky."

Takumi needed to get her away from here. "Our R&D team is responsible for selecting materials. I'm really not sure. I'll be sure to give them your feedback though." Again her grabbed her arm and tried to pull her out of the room.

Misaki evaded his grasp. Once she had cleaned her face, as best as she could, she returned to re-examine this interesting product. It was so high tech. She really had never seen anything like it before. "So what do you see the end user doing with this product?" she asked as she reached to grab the prototype that was not dripping with goo.

Richard had watched with extreme unease as his son-in-law had been man handled by this awful human. He would not allow her to try the same shenanigans with him! He was Richard Walker. He was powerful, rich and famous. He deserved respect and reverence. Consequences be damned, she was not going to touch him. As her hand approached, Richard said in a clear voice, "you had better keep your little girlfriend away from me Takumi, or I swear to God, I will bite her."

Misaki froze. Did this thing have artificial intelligence? She was still pondering that little outburst when Gerald spoke up, "Grandpa, you are supposed to be quite and play dumb. You know the Idiots will punish you if an Earthling sees you in this form."

Takumi, Claire and Richard all stared at Gerald. Takumi was beginning to think that the Idiots may have been trying to exile his brother in order to improve the gene pool back home. Ralph finally entered the room. "Hey, I thought the girl wasn't supposed to find out that we're aliens," he said looking at Misaki with confusion.

Misaki looked around the room. She got off the bed and started trying to make a break for the exit. Were these people aliens? No. she knew that was crazy. Oh God. She knew what was happening. "Takumi," she said feeling her head, "you need to get me to the doctor right away. I think someone has slipped LSD or some other sort of drug into my food. I've been having the worst delusions and visions today. I thought those two in the suits were killers, that you and your brother were dead and that you had some weird little creatures in your bed. Now I'm hearing things. I thought that guy," she pointed to Ralph, "had said you were all aliens. It all feels so real! I swear, I can still feel and smell the goop that the imaginary creature just spit all over me. Do you see them too? You can't, can you? Am I going crazy?"

Misaki seemed so distressed. It was tearing a Takumi apart. "No dearest," he said wrapping her in a hug, "you're not crazy and you're not on drugs. I'd like to introduce you to my father and grandfather."


	28. Chapter 27

Misaki couldn't believe Takumi was bringing this up now. She appreciated that his feeling for her were strong enough that he wanted to introduce her to his family, but she was freaking out a bit right now and reconciling her perception of today's events to reality was more important to her than taking another step forward in her love life. "Takumi," she said gently, "I really don't think this is the time."

"Misaki," he said as he took her tiny hands in his own, "I love you and I want to be honest and open with you. I don't want there to be any secrets between us. I can imagine you've had a very emotional day, but I think that this will help you come to terms with what you've been through." Takumi looked to his father and grandfather for assurances that he was making the right move. His father gave him a thumbs up and Richard shrugged. He was already banned from Pheromone, how much worse could it get?

"Fine," Misaki sighed. If this was important to Takumi, she'd try to hold it together for a quick meet and greet. "Where are they?"

"They're right here, darling," Takumi said waving toward his father and grandfather. Misaki looked in the direction he'd indicated and saw nothing but the two imaginary aliens or prototypes or whatever they were.

She turned back to Takumi. She raised one eyebrow, and shook her head while raising her shoulders. The gesture clearly said "and where exactly are they?"

Richard couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Takumi, you sure did get a bright one there, didn't you? Did you pick her up at Air-Heads-Are-Us?"

Edward jumped to his son's defense, "now Richard, she has never seen a Pheromonian before, just give her a minute to soak it all in."

"Actually," piped in Gerald, "humans are rather daft creatures. Misaki isn't particularly stupid for her species, but if you're comparing her to a Pheromonian she's never going to measure up. But since Takum is stuck here, she's just as good as any."

Richard was still stuck on Edward's comment. "What do you mean never seen a Pheromonian? It seems she's been spending quite a bit of time with my grandson… your son!"

"Now, now," Edward replied, "you must have known I meant in our actual body. Takumi had always worn his human suit around the girl."

Misaki stood there in shock. Could it be true? Was Takumi an alien? Wait… had Gerald just called her dumb? She needed to make sure she set him straight! But maybe after she dealt with the other parts of that conversation. "Alien?" Misaki said looking into Takumi's eyes feeling a touch of betrayal, sadness, confusion and fear.

Takumi could see this was going to be a rather emotional drawn out discussion. He turned to everyone else in the room. "Guys, maybe you can head back to England now. I think I'd like a little time to talk to Misaki privately."

Richard scoffed. "Well you said you'd introduce us and I would hardly consider that a proper introduction. If you plan to form some sort of relationship with this nitwit, I need to first know more about her to see if she's capable of being improved."

Misaki's face grew red. She was feeling very insulted by Takumi's family and was a little tired of keeping mute. She swung around to speak her mind, but Takumi stopped her and spun her back to look at him. "They are adjusting right now and are struggling. Please stay quite for now. We'll see them soon and they will get to know the real you and you'll see they aren't bad people. Just try to not say anything now that you'll regret later. Be the bigger person."

"Well of course she's the bigger person," Richard scoffed, "she's enormous. Gangly, awkward, and looming…"

"Grandfather!" Takumi snapped. "It is time for you to go... now. All of you. I will arrange for introductions on another day." Claire was quietly herding the party out the door. Richard could see his grandson was behaving in an aggressive and agitated way. He decided he was tired and it had been a long trip. He didn't really want to deal with this impertinent boy right now anyway.

"Fine," Richard said as he left the apartment.

Takumi followed them out and closed his apartment door. Then he found Misaki and led her to the couch. He sat her down and sighed. This was going to be a long night.


	29. Chapter 28

"Ask me anything," Takumi said taking her hands in his. He had never seen his brave Misaki looks so dazed, confused and ….frightened? Could she be afraid? His apartment was now emptied of unwanted guest so he wasn't sure what she could frightened of. Then the grim realization dawned on him that Misaki may very well be afraid of him! "Misaki?" he asked softly hoping to raise her eyes to his with his voice. "Please don't worry. I would never hurt you and I only want to help you understand everything you've seen this afternoon."

Misaki looked up. "You already have hurt me Takumi. What, or who, are you? I thought I knew and understood you. When I'd discovered you were still alive this afternoon, my heart filled with this overwhelming sense of joy and relief. But now I find out that everything about you has been a lie? You're not from England, you have an entirely different life than what you portrayed and I don't know that I can ever understand it or find away to fit into it. In fact, when I consider that you have been lying to me the entire time I have known you, I'm not sure I want to be apart of that life. Why should I trust you now?"

Misaki's words hit Takumi's heart like a sledge hammer. "I never meant to lie to you!" he protested, "I thought you knew! You were the one always calling me a perverted space alien from the planet Pheromone. That is a oddly specific insult and it's incredibly coincidence that it all happens to be accurate. I mean, come on! Who wouldn't think that you had figured it out when you went around calling me that?"

"Really," Misaki looked incredulous, "you're home planet is called 'Pheromone'? What kind of stupid name is that?"

"Well it was voted on by the populous. English is considered a very exotic language and only a handful of people that live on my planet have even heard it spoken. The Members of Regional Oral Nomenclature Syndicate decide on the names that would go on ballot. In fact, they get to decide the names of all government departments and divisions. They chose five alternatives for names for pur planet. I'm sure it's hard to believe, but 'Pheromone' was the best choice on there."

"So you're saying that a group that calls themselves the MORONS selected all the possible names for your planet then let the people pick one? I guess I can buy that 'Pheromone' was the best choice," Misaki decided. Misaki thought for a minute about what a Takumi had said earlier. Yes, it was rather astonishing that the nickname she had chosen for him was so very appropriate. She could see why that might mislead him to assume she had unearthed his secret identity. "Okay," she decided, "I suppose I can accept that you didn't set out to lie to me, but I still can't see how I could fit into your life. I mean we are entirely different species."

"Well we aren't anymore," Takumi said with a mix of happiness and loss. "I am now permanently a human that functions and performs just like you." Misaki raised an eyebrow. "Well, no not like you exactly… just like Hinata." That thought just about turned Takumi's stomach. He couldn't use that analogy. "Well actually I mean just like any other human male that isn't Hinata." Yes, yes, that was a much better choice of phrases.

"And how exactly is that if your dad is a Pokémon?"Misaki asked.

"Well, that's what I had to go home for. My government granted me my biggest wish which was to be allowed to live here on Earth permanently so that I could be near you! They even altered my human form so it will function like other humans. It will age just like yours, die just like you, can aid in the reproductive process…".

Misaki blushed wildly, "yeah yeah… I get it. No need to continue." Misaki felt her mind running out of excuses to end, or at the very least put a temporary hold on, her relationship with Takumi. She still had a million questions about Pheromone, however. "So which of the little green dudes was your dad and which one was your grandfather?"

"The gooey one was my dad and the cantankerous, buffoon was my grandfather," Takumi explained. He wanted to give Misaki ample time to ask all her questions, but he did feel he needed to appoligize for his family's ill treatment of her. "I know that they are all awful. Even Gerald, and he has been living here for well over a year. It's just that Pheromone has a long long history of exploration and have found life on so many different planets. Usually, the lifeforms we discover function like the ants or roaches do on your planet. Yes, on occasion we found creatures that were slightly intelligent, maybe as intelligent as say your chimpanzees. But we could not find any life that could comprehend wormholes and other discoveries that made our civilization capable of the advances that allowed us to do things like travel throughout the universe. As a result, Pheromonians are told that, while there is life on other planets, research suggests that only planets that offer the conditions present on Pheromone are capable of producing highly intelligent life. That was the reason I came here. I had read about earlier explorations to Earth and I believed that the conditions on Earth would also allow the development of an intelligent life form. Gerald really didn't get out of the office much while he's lived here. He was focused on keeping up our front, filing reports, doing the administrative work. But those of us in the field were really excited about our findings. For the first time ever, we think we found another intelligent species… mice."

Misaki looked downright annoyed. Takumi continued, "I'm kidding… of course I am talking about humans. My grandfather and brother are very close minded beings, Misaki. They were told that Phermonians were the most intelligent creatures in the Universe and that model stroked their egos and fit with their inflated self images. You are not dumb. In fact, you are capable of learning everything my species has uncovered about life and the universe. More importantly, you have empathy. Gerald and my grandfather have no ability to understand how their words or actions might make those around them feel. In fact it is a quality quite lacking in my species. You, on the other hand, are the most gentle, kind and thoughtful creature I have ever encountered and I love you all the more for it. I am hopeful that being here, among your people, with help my family grow and learn this skill and more importantly come to understand the importance of it. Yes, they are very rude, obnoxious, self important and annoying, but they are also loyal, generous, and childlike. Rather than hate them, please help them grow or at least try to tolerate them while I try to help them."

Misaki would need to consider his words before deciding how she felt about his family. She would get back to him on that one. But she was also thinking back to a conversation she once had with a Takumi months earlier. "Takumi," she said, "I'm sorry what I said about aliens. I can imagine it's scary to be away from your own kind and surrounded by a bunch of people that fear and don't understand you. I know my species isn't yet ready to learn about your planet or its inhabitants. I'll keep your secret."

Takumi looked relieved. Misaki then spent the next several hours probing a Takumi about every aspect of his plant, his species, their society, their geology… In fact, no topic was left off the table and Takumi felt exhausted.

"Misaki, I feel like I've just had about 4 Advanced Placement exams. Can we maybe take a break and get something to eat and I can answer more questions tomorrow?

Misaki smirked. "Okay, but only if you cook for me."

Takumi was content. He was by Misaki's side. She'd forgiven him and accepted him and she knew his truth. He was finally home. "It's a deal."

 **I think I can finish this with one more chapter! It will go from the story that keeps going to the story that is finally done! Hip hip hurray.**


	30. Chapter 29

**Gotta change the title since it is no longer is a story that keeps going! Thank you all you wonderful readers. It has been fun writing and getting your feedback and encouragement. It is fascinating seeing where some of the readers live. There were countries I'd never heard of before (like Maldives - which I promptly researched) so I learned a lot from you guys. I'll be working on a pride and prejudice FanFiction for a bit, but I won't forget about this great group of readers!**

The next morning Misaki arrived at Takumi's apartment bright and early. She still had a thousand and one questions left and all she had promised Takumi was that she'd hold off her inquires until 'tomorrow'. He didn't specify at what time tomorrow and honestly "tomorrow" had begun at 12:01 in the morning. She had waited nearly five hours after the day arrived so how could he complain? She knocked, repeatedly and with enthusiasm, on his door.

After a few minutes a groggy and disheveled Takumi opened the door. "It's 5:00 AM." His voice didn't hold any annoyance or malice. In fact it sounded more like a question or maybe shock. It was as if he couldn't believe that such an hour actually existed. Rather, he may have believed, it was a thing of fiction that supposedly happened while you were asleep but no person in their right mind would ever wake up to verify that this terrible thing called 5:00 AM really did occur in the real world.

Misaki smiled brightly and pushed her way into the apartment. "Yes it is! Rise and shine my little alien."

"That's not funny. I'm actually a human now," Takumi said rubbing his eyes and flopping over to the couch.

"More like a trans-otherkin," Misaki corrected. "You know… because otherkin means you identify as non-human and you are a non-human that transformed into a human so you now identify as human?"

Takumi's head was spinning. He was too tired to try to follow her conversation. In fact, he was too tired to think. Why wasn't he in bed again? Right… right… "ummm Misaki," he said carefully. He'd been too close to many times to losing her and he didn't want to do anything that might put their relationship in jeopardy yet again, but why the hell had she woken him up at the God awful hour? "Why are you here exactly?"

"Well," Misaki pulled a bag out from behind her back, "I brought you breakfast, and I thought I could ask you a few more questions about your home planet and everything and then I thought I could bring you to a museum on the history of man so you could learn a little more about your newly adopted species."

Wow. That sounded like his nap evaporating. He wasn't going to let it go without a fight. He reached over and embraced her. Once she was in his arms, he pulled them both down onto the couch and brought them to a laying position. Maybe if she could feel how nice it was to be curled up at this hour letting sleep envelop her, she would be quite and stop being so gosh darn energetic.

No luck. She sprung back up like some sort of jack in the box. All bubbly and bouncy. How much coffee had this girl had anyway? She opened the bag containing "breakfast" and it contained a zip lock bag of some kid's cereal. Takumi began to wonder if this was some sort of punishment put in place by the IDIOTS after they figured out he hadn't viewed his sentence on a Earth as all that bad. Takumi moaned. She wasn't leaving and he wasn't going to be allowed to go back to sleep. He'd just need to suck it up and wake up. But he didn't need to eat that crap in a bag. He walked with more purpose to his kitchen and began preparing a real breakfast. Now that his tastebuds had been altered to match the other humans, he decided his cooking wasn't too bad. In fact, he actually liked it.

While the water for the rice began to boil, Takumi ran back to his room and brought back two packages. "I forgot yesterday in all the commotion," he said handing the packages to Misaki, "I brought you back a few souvenirs."

Misaki's eyes grew big. This was awesome! It was bright and early, the air was fresh and the temperature cool, her very hot boyfriend was making her something delicious to eat, and he was plying her with gifts! One package was small and the other looked like and felt like a book. "Are these souvenirs from another solar system?" she asked with glee. That was so amazing! Last night once she'd got home she had a lot to think about. It was completely and utterly weird that Takumi had been an actual space alien. At first she was pretty creeped out by it, but then she started to think about how much he must know and how he was truly one of a kind. It was strange but also kind of exciting. And she knew how valuable a gift from another planet would be. Heck, Takumi had told her that diamonds were like granite where he came from. They were so common they held no value. A little trinket from Pheromone might prove to be valuable not only because it was from outer space but because it was made of some material that was cheap on Pheromone but had an intrinsic value on Earth.

"Well the little package is from Pheromone, but the other one was something I got from England since I thought you'd expect a gift that had come from the place I told you I was going." Takumi stopped and considered something. He didn't want her to be let down by the gifts. "That one from England, it is actually used. I was kinda in a rush and didn't really read the on-line description. I think you'll like the other one though."

Misaki was now very excited to rip open the gift from Pheromone. She showed restraint and removed the wrapper carefully and was pleased to see something that was an unmistakable jewelry box. It was like the makers of those little velvet hinged jewelry boxes had a monopoly that spanned across the universe. Her face lit up as she opened the box to find… the ugliest pair of earrings she'd ever seen in her life! She picked one up and her disappointment was clear. "What kind of rock is this?" she asked trying to appear grateful and curious about the present Takumi had put so much thought into.

"Oh," Takumi paused in his food prep. He hadn't seen her initial expression and was unaware that she was not excited about the gift. "That's called coal. I believe it's also available here on Earth, but it is very rare on Pheromone and only the finest jewelry is made using it."

That's what she thought. Coal. "Thank you!" She said as brightly as she could.

Takumi continued his description, "most of our coal was converted into diamonds which is why it is so rare. The pressure on our planet is very great so it is hard to preserve such a fine example of coal. I picked that gem not just because of its rarity and value but because it reminded me of our relationship. Right now, that coal is fragile and delicate. But it is only a matter of time until it will become stronger than any other gem. Once that happens, we will know that the diamond the coal has transformed into can be cut to reveal a beautiful prism that can reveal the rainbows hidden in everyday light. And the strength would allow the stone to bear the weight and stress needed to support a home. Our love will also grow into a thing of beauty that will allow us to see hidden miracles in life. Our love will also grow to be so strong that it can someday build the foundation of a…" Takumi paused. He had been thinking marriage but knew he was much to far ahead of himself. After a pause, he concluded with, "Well, I hope you like it because I think it's a perfect metaphor for our love and the gem itself is rare and valuable just as you are to me."

Misaki decided she would treasure the gift. It wasn't her style, but it would probably look great next to the macaroni necklaces her future children would make her. "Thank you Takumi, they're lovely." She opened the next gift and much to her surprise it was a first edition of Pride and Prejudice. The book must have cost a fortune. It wasn't even clear how he had been able to find one.

Takumi looked up and saw her looking at the book he'd bought, "you recommended that book to me when we ran into each other at the book store. I thought you should have your own copy. I can go back to that store and buy you a new one if you'd like. I ordered that one because it was published in England, and of course is written in a English by an English author so it seemed a more proper English sovereign than a Japanese translation. Sorry it came in three separate volumes. And that it's so old."

"How much did this cost?" Misaki was in shock. This had to be worth more than her house.

"Now that you mention it, I guess it was overpriced. I assumed shipping from England to Japanese must just be expensive," Takumi considered.

Misaki made a decision right then and there. If this relationship went the distance, she would be the one in charge of their finances. But that would be a very long time away. For now, they could just focus on a lovely meal and then she could show him her appreciation for his thoughtful gifts.

 **The End**


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